The California IMCA Speedweek Report

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California IMCA Speedweek, Presented by Hoppes Motorsports Schedule
Placerville Speedway August 10
Petaluma Speedway August 11
Antioch Speedway August 12
Merced Speedway August 13
Keller Auto Speedway August 14
Bakersfield Speedway August 15

Watch It At www.floracing.com

Hogge And Jernagan Are Inaugural 
California IMCA Speedweek Champions

Merced, CA...The inaugural California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports, is officially in the record books. It was six nights of some of the most competitive and exciting racing you'll find for IMCA Modifieds or Sport Modifieds anywhere on the West Coast. Series director Doug Lockwood announced the creation of the series on July 4th. Literally a month and one week later, the first race rolled onto the track at Placerville Speedway.

This took quite a bit of effort from Lockwood negotiating with the other promoters, bringing in sponsorships and taking pre sign ups, but the results were incredible. The IMCA Modifieds averaged just over 50 cars per race, and the IMCA Sport Modifieds average just over 30. There really wasn't enough time to adequately promote this event, and you have to believe there could have been more cars supporting this under more ideal circumstances. Furthermore, fans were still not allowed in the grandstands due to covid-19 guidelines, so this meant streaming it on Flo Racing all week. Though streaming will probably be a part of this in the future, fans should be back in the grandstands for the 2021 season.

When it comes to the action on the track, the IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds delivered the drama. Every race that pulled onto the track had implications to it. Whether it was a 10 lap heat race or a 10 lap B Main in which drivers were fighting for a starting spot in the feature race or the Main Events themselves. Drivers fought hard for every position they could get on the track in the hopes that they'd make the transfer, win that race or ultimately win the championship.

When the final checkered flag waved on the Main Event for the IMCA Modifieds at Bakersfield Speedway, Bobby Hogge IV was the champion. Hogge didn't dominate the series as we've seen him dominate races in the past. The competition was fierce all week long. Following his victory at Placerville, he had a third place finish at Petaluma Speedway. After that, it was all seconds. His second place finish behind Shane DeVolder in the finale meant that Hogge was 26 points ahead of Troy Foulger and would be the $1,000 champion. Hogge was able to support the entire week as he worked from wherever he was while his crew made sure the Joe Glade Racing Enterprises Modified was ready for each event.

Foulger didn't hold anything back in the Bowers Motorsports Modified. He went into the final race with a shot at the championship, and he was beating Hogge for a while. Unfortunately, he got caught up in a tangle in that final event for his only non Top 5 finish of the week. Foulger won the race at Petaluma and had three additional Top 5 finishes. That put him 26 points behind Hogge and 17 ahead of third place Robby Sawyer. Sawyer's week ended in heartbreak with mechanical issues in the B Main that prevented him from starting the Main Event at his home track.

At times, Sawyer was maybe the most entertaining driver to watch on the track. He didn't just wait for things to happen, he made them happen. He scored the victory at Merced Speedway, and this moved him into second in the standings. He came into the final race in second, but his bad luck dropped him to third. He ended the week with three Top 5 finishes. Bakersfield point leader Jerry Flippo had just one Top 5 finish, but it happened on the final night. This propelled him to fourth in the standings, just six behind Sawyer and five in front of Paul Stone.

Stone left the Bakersfield racing surface in the Main Event on the unhappy end of a tow truck hook, but he turned in some impressive performances during the week. One of his three Top 5 finishes saw him starting 20th at Petaluma Speedway and charging all the way to second for perhaps the drive of the week. Stone has nothing to be ashamed of as he had a great week. The Top 10 drivers all did an exceptional job, and that included Jake Pike, Kellen Chadwick, Ryan Daves, Cody Burke and Antioch Speedway winner Nick DeCarlo. Shane DeVolder won the Bakersfield finale to end up 11th in the standings, and Kyle Heckman won the Main Event at Hanford.

The IMCA Sport Modifieds saw the emergence of two two racers that have been frontrunners in recent years. However, people might not be fully aware of them. Two-time reigning Merced Speedway champion Fred Ryland came in as one of the favorites to win the championship, and he had three Top 5 finishes in his four starts. However, he was overshadowed by the impressive breakout performance of Bakersfield racer Garrett Jernagan. Jernagan turned in an effort that people will be talking about for years. 

At Placerville, Jernagan had a battle with fellow Bakersfield racer Trevor Bannister before wrestling the lead away from him and pulling away to the victory. He followed that up with a win at Petaluma in that track's first-ever IMCA sanctioned Sport Modified race. At Antioch, Jernagan continued his momentum with another win, and he would have had the crowd on their feet in Merced if they were able to attend as he won yet again. It was a 12 point lead for Jernagan after Merced. It was at this point when Ryland exited the battle, and you might have thought it was over at that point.

The unthinkable happened at Hanford, a track that Jernagan figured he would do well at. He got caught up in somebody's crash in the heat race, sending him directly to the B Main. He ran a few laps outside of a transfer spot before finally making his way in, but that was about as good as it was going to get. Jernagan got caught up in somebody else's crash before one lap was even completed, giving him a heartbreaking 19th place finish in the 20 car field. Ryland might be wondering what could have happened had he continued, but there was another driver ready to take up the challenge.

Quietly, Brent Curran had been doing his thing and collecting Top 10 finishes. In fact, he's the only driver of Speedweek who had Top 10 finishes in every race. He only had one Top 5 finish in the first four races, but he came into the fifth event 23 points out of the lead. This is where Curran caught everybody's attention. With 2014 State champion Nick Spainhoward giving him some pressure late in the race, Curran still managed to lead all the way to win the race in Hanford. Suddenly, he was just three points behind Jernagan going into Bakersfield. The battle was on.

By luck of the draw, Curran again found himself on the front row of the Main Event, and he charged into lead. Jernagan had a few cars to pass, but he wasn't about to hold anything back. On a restart, he made a brilliant move from fifth to second, only to see a yellow flag erase it all. That didn't stop him either. When racing resumed, Jernagan quickly made his move towards Curran and passed him for the lead. Once he got the lead, Jernagan picked up his fifth win and officially won the championship by four points ahead of Curran, who ended up second in that race. Both drivers should be proud of their performances.

Tanner Thomas was hoping to hold onto third going into the final race. After his strong run in Placerville, Bannister had some bad luck, but he still managed to pick up an additional two Top 5 finishes. It was his third place finish in Bakersfield that did it as Bannister moved one point ahead of Thomas in the final rundown to steal the third place ranking. Thomas had his best performance of the week at Bakersfield in fifth, but it wasn't quite good enough as he settled for fourth ahead of Todd Gomez.

Gomez had his moments during the week, which included two Top 5 finishes. In Bakersfield, he had a shot, but he was eliminated in a crash. He finished a solid fifth in the standings. Jarrod Mounce was working on what could have been a podium finish in Bakersfield, but his race ended with mechanical issues as he ended up seventh in the standings, followed by Doug Hagio, Tyler Thomas and Spainhoward.

The series is in the record books, and already Doug Lockwood is thinking about next year. The racers are looking forward to coming back again and seeing what the week will offer them. Thanks to Travis Hoppes, every Main Event for the Modifieds paid at least $100 to start. Thanks to internet streaming service Flo Racing, every IMCA Sport Modified race paid at least $75. Ken's Auto Body made sure the IMCA Sport Modified feature winner every night would get $750 and also made sure the champion received $700. Without all of the sponsors and all of the racers, this couldn't have happened. 

This concludes the inaugural California IMCA Speedweek, presented by Hoppes Motorsports. Thank yous go out to Scott Russell of Placerville Speedway, Rick Faeth of Petaluma Speedway, Chad Chadwick of Antioch Speedway, Peter Murphy at Keller Auto Speedway, S And S Promotions of Merced Speedway and Scott Schweitzer of Bakersfield Speedway. These were the six tracks that got on board to make Speedweek a reality. The best is yet to come. To keep track of future announcements, follow the California IMCA Speedweek page on Facebook.


IMCA Modified Final Top 20
Bobby Hogge IV 234
Troy Foulger 208
Robby Sawyer 191
Jerry Flippo 185
Paul Stone 180
Jake Pike 177
Kellen Chadwick 175
Ryan Daves 162
Cody Burke 161
Nick DeCarlo 154
Shane DeVolder 153
Danny Wagner 150
Jim Pettit II 141
Tom Smith 137
Brian Cass 135
Trevor Fitz 131
Troy Morris III 119
Michael Thing 102
Justin Dunn 101
Tim Yaeger 136  

IMCA Sport Modifieds Final Top 20
Garrett Jernagan 222
Brent Curran 218
Jason Bannister    191
Tanner Thomas 190
Todd Gomez 176
Jarrod Mounce 153
Doug Hagio 151
Fred Ryland 148
Tyler Thomas 126
Nick Spainhoward 123
Chuck Weir 120
Trevor Tiffee 118
Ethan Killingsworth 113
Chase Thomas 111
Ryan DeForest 104
Cory Hemphill 99
KC Keller 92
Aaron Farrell 92
Nathan Rolfe 91
Kenny Shrader 89

Top 10 Non Qualifier IMCA Modifieds (No Main Event Starts)
Derek Nance 84
Anthony Slaney 79
Freddie Plourde III 78
Dakota Schweitzer 78
John Pierce 77
Justin Yaeger 74
Jake Dewsbury 70
Mark Gaylord 64
Terry Hershberger 62
Jeff Browne 58     

DeVolder Wins At Bakersfield Speedway, 
Hogge IMCA Modified Speedweek Champion 

Bakersfield, CA...August 15...Shane DeVolder won the 30 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway. This was the sixth and final round of the California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports. DeVolder got the lead early on and went on to become the sixth different winner in as many races. The win paid DeVolder $1,000. DeVolder was challenged late by series champion Bobby Hogge IV, who settled for his fourth runner-up finish of the week.

DeVolder led the opening lap before a high pass in Turn 4 gained Alyssa Smith the lead. Gary Dutton settled into third in an early battle with Tom Smith. DeVolder made an inside pass in Turn 4 on Lap 5 to take the lead from Alyssa Smith. Clint Reichenbach settled into fourth, and a yellow flag waved on Lap 8 for a frontstretch crash that eliminated both Tim Yeager and Paul Stone. The first restart attempt was botched when Jake Mayden spun in Turn 1. DeVolder continued to lead the restart as Dutton and Reichenbach shuffled Alyssa Smith out of the Top 3. Reichenbach went low in Turn 2 on Lap 8 to take second from Dutton. Gavyn Manning, Alyssa Smith, Troy Foulger and Hogge had a good battle going for the fourth position, but Manning had problems to end his race on Lap 16. Ryan Daves gained the fourth position ahead of Foulger. DeVolder hit heavy traffic by then, and he had a scary moment where he made contact with a slower car on the frontstretch on Lap 18 but he kept going. A yellow flag waved when Trevor Fitzgibbon crashed in Turn 1 on Lap 22 with heavy front-end damage. On the restart lap, there was a crash in Turn 2 as third place Dutton got sideways, collecting Alyssa Smith and Foulger. Ethan Dotson clipped the front end of Dutton's car and got in the air. DeVolder continued to lead on the restart with Daves and Hogge settling into second and third. Only one lap was completed before Reichenbach stalled in Turn 1. The next restart saw Hogge move into second and begin pressuring DeVolder for the lead. Jim Pettit II moved into fifth on Lap 26. Pettit beat Cody Burke back to the line on Lap 28 to grab fourth. Hogge gave it a last-ditch effort on the final lap to make a move on DeVolder, but he came up short as DeVolder was the happy winner. Daves finished third, followed by Pettit, Jerry Flippo, Burke, Alyssa Smith, Kellen Chadwick, Reichenbach and Foulger

The IMCA Modifieds had 53 competitors and ran six 10 lap heat races with the Top 2 finishers making it into the show. Tom Smith won the first heat race ahead of Michael Scruggs. The duo ran first and second the entire distance. The third place battle got a little bit rough on Lap 6 when contact from Brad Pounds put Collen Winebarger into the fence on the back stretch and nearly saw him roll. Both drivers were eliminated in the melee. Smith went on to take the checkered ahead of Scruggs, Tim Yeager and Buddy Kniss. However, Scruggs was disqualified in post-race tech. The second heat turned out to be perhaps the most exciting heat race of the week. Shane DeVolder won the race. Reigning State champion Trevor Fitzgibbon raced into the early lead ahead of Cody Burke. Kyle Heckman moved into third on Lap 3, but he surrendered the position to DeVolder on Lap 6. DeVolder went low in Turn 3 on Lap eight to take second from Burke and made an inside pass on the backstretch on the final lap to take the win. Fitzgibbon settled for second, followed by Burke and Heckman.

Ryan Daves won the third heat race. Daves raced into the lead at the start and went flag-to-flag with Bobby Hogge IV a race-long second. The battle was for third, but Darrell Hughes II managed to hold off track point leader Jerry Flippo to finish there. Clint Reichenbach won the rapidly run fourth heat race. He charged into the lead at the start and pulled away from the pack for an impressive win. Multi-time Cottage Grove Speedway champion Jake Mayden made his first Main Event of the week with a second place finish ahead of Roger Holder and Kellen Chadwick.

Gary Dutton won the fifth heat race in flag-to-flag fashion. Jim Pettit II returned after missing Hanford and winning in Watsonville to run second early in the race. An inside pass on the backstretch of the fifth lap gained Ethan Dotson the second position, and Troy Foulger got by Pettit in Turn 4 on Lap 8 to take third. Pettit settled for fourth. Alyssa Smith won the sixth and final 10 lap heat race. She moved into the lead at the start ahead of Terry Hershberger, but Hershberger was passed low in Turn 2 of the second lap by Gavyn Manning. Manning finished second, followed by Steve Noland and Anthony Slaney.

The IMCA Modifieds ran four 10 lap B Mains with the Top 2 drivers transferring into the Main Event. From the start of the first B Main, it was a battle between Troy Foulger and Jerry Flippo. Foulger led a lap before a low pass in Turn 2 gained Flippo the lead. Dakota Schweitzer and Vinny Raucci Jr tangled in Turn 2 for a Lap 2 yellow flag. Flippo continued to lead Foulger, and the duo pulled away a little bit from third place Brad Pounds. Mayo and Foulger punched their tickets into the Main Event with the 1-2 finish as Pounds settled for third ahead of Buddy Kniss.

Cody Burke won the second B Main. This race included series championship contender Robby Sawyer. Burke led from the outset ahead of Kellen Chadwick and Steve Noland, but Danny Wagner moved by Noland on the second lap to gain third. Sawyer stalled on Lap 8 with mechanical issues to end his evening. Burke continued to lead the restart and won the race ahead of Chadwick, Wagner and Bryan Clark.

Jim Pettit II won the third B Main. He raced into lead at the start with Troy Morris III in second. Morris pressured Pettit down the stretch, but he settled for the Main Event transferring second place finish. Justin Dunn moved into third on Lap 5 and finished there, followed by Derek Nance.

Kyle Heckman won the fourth and final 10 lap B Main. Heckman raced into the lead at the start ahead of Anthony Slaney. Roger Holder moved into third very quickly, and that became second when Slaney spun in Turn 4 on Lap 3. Paul Stone went low in Turn 4 on Lap 6 to take the second spot from Holder. Stone pressured Heckman down the stretch. However Heckman prevailed ahead of Stone. Nick DeCarlo passed Holder late and finished third as Holder settled for fourth.

Jernagan Wraps Up Speedweek Title 
With Bakersfield Speedway Win

Bakersfield, CA...August 15...Garrett Jernagan won the 25 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway. This was the final round of the California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports. Jernagan had won the first four events, but a crash on the opening lap in Hanford put his championship hopes in jeopardy as Brent Curran moved to within three points of him by winning that race. Jernagan battled Curran briefly before taking the lead and scoring his fifth Speedweek win. The victory paid $750 to Jernagan, in part thanks to sponsorship from Ken's Auto Body. Flo Racing streamed this event on internet pay-per-view and sponsored some of the purse money for the Sport Modified race.

Curran again drew the front row start for the race and set the early pace ahead of Brandon Jennings and Austin Manzella. A high pass in Turn 4 of the fourth lap gained Jernagan the fourth position from Jarrod Mounce. Mounce came back strong on the outside to reclaim fourth a lap later and went high in Turn 4 on Lap 6 to take the third position from Manzella. The yellow flag waved after six laps for Brian Baker, Nathan Rolfe and Jon McKinley in Turn 2. Curran continued to lead Jennings and Mounce on the restart. After the eighth lap was completed, Jennings spun from the second position for a yellow flag. Curran continued to lead the restart as Jernagan made a backstretch pass on Mounce for second. McKinley brought out another yellow flag on Lap 10. On this restart, Curran appeared to have problems exiting Turn 4 just long enough for Jernagan to get by for the lead. Curran gathered his momentum and held onto second ahead of Mounce. Mounce slowed going into Turn 2 for a lap 14 yellow flag. Jernagan remained in command on the restart and had a straightaway advantage on Curran by the time a yellow flag waved on Lap 23 for an infield tire that got knocked out onto the track by Chuck Weir. Jernagan wasn't fazed by that. He remained in control on the restart and led the final two laps for the victory. Curran settled for a respectable second, followed by Trevor Bannister, Brock Crawford, Tanner Thomas, Dylan Potter, James Cecil, McKinley, Matt Mayo and Chase Thomas.

There were 31 IMCA Sport Modifieds for the show, and they ran four 10 lap heat races that would transfer four cars from each. James Cecil won the first race. During the first seven laps, he had to deal with the challenge of Brylon Holder, and a yellow flag flew after seven laps for a Turn 2 crash involving Tyler Thomas, Tanner Thomas and Dylan Potter. On the restart, Cecil motored ahead and went on to win with Holder settling for second. Matt Mayo and Matthew Mayo crossed the line in second and third, only to be disqualified in post-race tech. This moved Chase Thomas and Potter into transfer spots into the Main Event. Past State champion Austin Manzella won the second heat race. He bolted into the the lead at the start ahead of Jon McKinley. Markus Frazier and Nathan Rolfe shuffled McKinley back to fourth on Lap 2, and Brent Curran made a Turn 2 pass on McKinley to grab the fourth position on Lap 4. Manzella and Frazier crossed the line in a 1-2 finish. Rolfe clipped an infield tractor tire in Turn 3 in his attempt to get around Frazier. This allowed Curran to get by, and McKinley won a drag race with Rolfe to the line to finish fourth. The post-race disqualification of Frazier gave Rolfe the fourth and final transfer spot.

Jason Bannister won the third heat race. He jumped into the lead at the start.ahead of Brian Baker and Todd Gomez. A low pass and Turn 2 of the third lap put Nick Spainhoward into fourth. Gomez went high in Turn 4 on Lap 5 to take third from Baker. Bannister went on to victory as Gomez finished second. A low pass in Turn 2 on the final lap gained Spainhoward third as Baker settled for fourth. The fourth heat race was a rapidly run affair, and Garrett Jernagan got his night off to a very good start by winning the race in impressive fashion. Chuck Weir ran second early on ahead of Brandon Jennings and Jarrod Mounce. A low pass in Turn 4 on Lap 6 gained Jennings second, and Mounce got by Weir in Turn 4 on Lap 9 to steal the third position. Weir settled for the fourth and final transfer.

Brock Hamilton won the 10 lap B Main that would transfer the Top 4 finishers. The race was restarted after a crash on the back straightaway. Crawford led the restart ahead of Tyler Thomas, but a Paul Harris spin in Turn 2 brought out a Lap 3 yellow flag. Crawford continued to lead the restart as Haley Gomez moved briefly into second, only to surrender the spot to a low pass in Turn 4 by Tanner Thomas.  Marcus Frazier quickly settled into third. Frazier made a move around Thomas late, and Gomez faded as Crawford won ahead of Frazier, Thomas and Matt Mayo.

Massey Wins Mini Stock Race At Bakersfield Speedway

Bakersfield, CA...August 15...Clint Massey won the 20 lap Mini Stock Main Event Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway. The Mini Stocks ran in support of the California IMCA Speedweek event. Massey was coming off of an impressive win at Hanford in the Central Valley Mini Stock race the night before, making this a two-win weekend for him.

Click Duncan led the opening lap before a low pass in Turn 2 gained Massey the lead. RJ Smotherman moved past Duncan for second on Lap 3. Smotherman began to pull away from Duncan, but David Wolford Sr and Gene Glover gained on him to make it a good battle for third. By the seventh lap, Massey held a straightaway advantage over Smotherman. Smotherman suddenly slowed on Lap 18, and his motor let go in a cloud of smoke. This gave Wolford Sr the second position as Massey won by a wide margin. Glover made a low pass in Turn 2 on lap 15 to get by Duncan, and that earned him a third place finish as Duncan settled for fourth, followed by Jeff Durant, Steve Porter, Brandon Wolford, RJ Smotherman, Tommy Provence and Andy Boydstun. Eight lap heat race wins were earned by Smotherman and Wolford Sr.

There is more racing planned at Bakersfield Speedway, including the Mike Mosier Memorial Race on August 29th. For scheduling and other important information, go to www.bakersfieldspeedway.com.

California IMCA Speedweek Finale 
At Bakersfield Speedway Tonight

Bakersfield, CA...The racers have been battling fiercely over these past five days in the California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports. IMCA Modified and IMCA Sport Modified competitors have gone from Placerville to Petaluma to Antioch to Merced to Hanford and end it all at Bakersfield tonight. The inaugural Speedweek Series will crown its first champions in both divisions.

Consistency has been the name of the game for Bobby Hogge IV. He opened the series with a win at Placerville. Though he's been shut out for the past four races, he has not finished worse than third in any of those races. Hogge is the only driver with all Top 5 finishes, and he carries a 15 point advantage over Robby Sawyer into this race. Bakersfield champion Sawyer won the Main Event at Merced, but he barely made it out of a B Main to start 20th in a non-stop race at Hanford. The best Sawyer could do before the checkered flag flew was 11th. This also enabled Troy Foulger to use his third place finish to move to within three points of Sawyer for second as he is 18 points out of the lead. 

Foulger's win at Petaluma Speedway is probably the most dominant victory we've seen with the group yet. He has four Top 5 finishes in five starts. At this point, Hogge, Sawyer and Foulger are your championship contenders. We've seen how difficult it can be to make the Main Event given the fact that you only get out of your heat race if you finish in the Top 2 and only get out of the B Main with a Top 2 finish. There's a slim margin of error, so a gain can be made. If these three drivers make the Main Event, catching Hogge to win it all will be challenging, even if he doesn't win the Main Event.

The IMCA Modifieds have been very competitive all week-long with five different winners in five races. The Antioch win went to Nick DeCarlo, who unfortunately didn't finish in Hanford. The Hanford win went to Kyle Heckman, who was making his first start of the series. Paul Stone, who finished fourth in Hanford, had perhaps the most impressive drive of the series as he started last on the grid to finish second at Petaluma. Stone is fifth in the standings, 36 out of the lead and five behind Pahrump, Nevada racer Jake Pike, who is currently fourth. Though Stone has three Top 5 finishes, Pike has yet to earn one.

Bakersfield Speedway point leader Jerry Flippo is currently sixth of the standings and trails the leader by 46 points. Kellen Chadwick is 53 points out of the lead in seventh, DeCarlo trails the leader by 57 points in eighth, Brian Cass is 60 points back in ninth and Danny Wagner is 61 points out in 10th. For those drivers, catching the leader is an impossibility, but the possibility of getting a win in Bakersfield is still there. We haven't seen a repeat winner yet, so anything can happen.

The IMCA Sport Modified battle took a crazy turn in Hanford. Second ranked Fred Ryland didn't make it to the show, leaving his spot vacant to the next in line. With four-straight wins at Placerville, Petaluma, Antioch and Merced, Bakersfield's Garrett Jernagan seemed like he was in position to close the deal. As we move further down south, we get to tracks that he's more comfortable with. Hanford figured to be a place where he would do well, but it turned out to be a nightmare. Jernagan started things off by crashing out of his heat race. It was a struggle at first, but he did make it through the B Main.

The Main Event had the drama. Aaron Farrell spun in front of several cars in Turn 4, and Jernagan was one of them. He suffered too much damage to continue. Third-ranked Brent Curran was in a position to make a move, and he did everything he could. Curran started on the front row and led all 20 laps for an impressive victory. When the points were tabulated, he emerged trailing Jernagan by just three points. The battle comes down between these two competitors, and there's a slim margin of error. The IMCA point system is one point per position. Curran has been the most consistent driver in the pack with five Top 10 finishes in five starts.

It's been an eventful Speedweek for Merced regular Tanner Thomas, but he finds himself holding third in the standings. Though he has a mathematical shot at the championship, it's unlikely that he'll pull it off. He could still hold onto the third podium position. However, it's a close race. Thomas leads Jason Bannister by one point, Todd Gomez by two, Doug Hagio by three and Ryland by six.  At this point, if you can't win the series championship, there's still the idea that you can get some of the point fund money as a Top 5 point competitor and maybe you can win at Bakersfield Speedway. A win at Bakersfield is a highly sought prize as those don't come easy. 

Jarrod Mounce currently holds eighth in the standings, followed by Tyler Thomas and Trevor Tiffee. There have been 66 different competitors to run with the Sport Modifieds and 85 of them in the Modifieds. If you can make it into the Top 10 in the standings in either class, you've done well for yourself.

The sub plot at the Bakersfield show is that this is the fourth race for both the IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds at the track itself. That also means that it becomes an official point race in the eyes of the sanctioning body. The track currently has two events remaining on the point season schedule before it ends with the big Bud Nationals on the second weekend of October.

Skimming through the point races, Jerry Flippo leads the IMCA Modifieds by just one point over a pair of champions, Sawyer and Brad Pounds. Austin Kiefer is two points out and Bryan Clark is seven points back. Kiefer won the IMCA Modified portion of the Richie McGowan Memorial race, while Tom Smith and Dylan Thornton were the other winners.

Looking briefly at the IMCA Sport Modifieds, past champion Nick Spainhoward is back and leading by six points over Daniel West and eight over Garrett Jernagan. The battle is between these three with third-generation racer Billy Simkins lurking back in forth. Spainhoward, Jernagan and Michael Johnson have won the three races held so far. 

There are some good racers in Bakersfield who haven't competed in the Speedweek Series, but they figure to be tough competitors at their home track. In addition to IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds for their final race of the series, the local Mini Stock division is scheduled to appear as well. The fans aren't allowed in attendance for this event, you can check out all the action at www.floracing.com. For information pertaining to the track itself, go to www.bakersfieldspeedway.com.

Heckman Wins IMCA Modified Speedweek Race 
At Keller Auto Speedway

Hanford, CA...August 14...Kyle Heckman won the 25 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Friday night at Keller Auto Speedway. This was the fifth round of the California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports. Heckman was making his first Speedweek start, and the race would go without a yellow flag. The Bakersfield racer collected $1,000 for his winning effort, and Bobby Hogge IV maintained his series point lead with his fifth-straight podium finish in second.

Heckman had a front row start for this race with championship contenders Hogge and Troy Foulger in the second row. Heckman bolted into lead at the start ahead of Hogge and Pahrump, Nevada racer Jake Pike. Foulger went by Pike on the backstretch on Lap 5 and closed in quickly on Hogge. Paul Stone maneuvered his way past Pike on Lap 15. As Heckman let the way, Hogge was trying to find a line to gain some ground on him. As Hogge looked more to the outside, Foulger got a better run going on the inside and pulled alongside of him. However, Hogge always led that battle at the line. When Heckman caught slower traffic, he made the right moves and earned the impressive victory. Hogge was a strong second ahead of Foulger, Stone, Alex Stanford, Brian Cass, Pike, Colin Winebarger, Austin Burke and Jerry Flippo.

There were 64 IMCA Modifieds with the Top 2 finishers in each eight lap heat race going into the Main Event. Buddy Kniss won the first heat race. Chris Sieweke set the early pace over Rob Sanders. Sieweke got out of shape in Turn 2 on Lap 6 as Sanders moved by on the inside to take the lead. Sieweke then had problems in Turn 4 and pushed as Kniss and Danny Wagner got to by for second and third. Sanders led the final laps for the apparent win with Kniss in second, followed by Wagner and Andy Orbetello. Unfortunately, Sanders was disqualified in post-race tech  Cody Burke won the second heat race. Jake Pike led the first four laps before an inside pass in Turn 2 gained Burke the lead and victory, Pike held off a serious challenge from Paul Stone down the stretch to get the second transfer spot. Alex Stanford finished fourth.

Kellen Chadwick won the third heat race. He charged into lead at the start and won the race with Clint Reichenbach finishing second. The battle was behind Reichenbach as Ricky Childress Jr ended up making the move around Trevor Fitzgibbon to finish third. Fitzgibbon settled for fourth. Troy Foulger won the fourth heat race. Foulger led Bobby Hogge IV on the opening lap before Roger Holder rolled in Turn 2 for a red flag. Holder actually drove off the track. Foulger led Hogge on the restart, and they had a few close laps of racing before Foulger pulled away for the win. Hogge made it into the Main Event in second as Robby Sawyer and Chester Kniss rounded out the Top 4.

Brian Cass won the fifth heat race. Bryan Clark led through a pair of yellow flags. On the sixth lap, Cass went low in Turn 4 and grabbed the lead. Clark held on for the second place finish, followed by Jeff Thomas and Ethan Dotson. Kyle Heckman won the final eight lap heat race. The race had two restarts following Turn 2 spins for John Pierce and Jeff Browne. Heckman led Fred Plourde III on the restart, but a Lap 2 yellow flag flew for Justin Hart's Turn 2 spin. Troy Morris III moved into second on the restart and chased eventual winner Heckman. Gavyn Manning and Plourde completed the Top 4.

Andy Obertello won the first of four 10 Lap B Mains that would transfer two cars from each race. Obertello led from the opening lap ahead of Jeff Thomas. Contact between Thomas and Gary Dutton sent Dutton spinning in Turn 4, and Dutton drove off the track at that point. A Turn 4 pass on the second lap also gained Trevor Fitzgibbon second, but he surrendered the position to Brad Pounds a lap later. Obertello led the entire distance to win with Pounds transferring in second, followed by Michael Thing, Derek Nance and Tom Smith.

Paul Stone won the second 10 lap B Main. Stone led from the outset, and Gavyn Manning had his hands full trying to hold off Nick DeCarlo and Collen Winebarger. Winebarger made a big move into second on Lap 8 as he got around both DeCarlo and Manning, but it was all for naught as a yellow flag waved for Alyssa Smith in Turn 2. Stone led Manning on the restart. In the final turn, Manning got sideways in front of DeCarlo and collected him as Winebarger got by to finish second behind Stone. DeCarlo recovered in third ahead of Mark Gaylord and Ryan Porter.

Jerry Flippo won the third 10 lap B Main. Half the field scratched from this race due mechanical issues, and it ran without incident. Steve Noland led the first five laps before Flippo made a low pass in Turn 4 to take the lead. Flippo led the rest of the way with Noland making the final transfer in second. Michael Scruggs finished third, followed by Anthony Slaney and Danny Roe.

Alex Stanford won the fourth and final 10 lap B Main. He and Robbie Sawyer started on the front row and ran 1-2 the entire distance. Justin Hart spun in Turn 2 for a Lap 2 yellow, which was the only slowdown of the race. As Stanford and Sawyer motored ahead to the finish, Mike White settled into third. Darrell Hughes II made an inside pass on the backstretch of the eighth lap to grab third. White settled for fourth ahead of Ryan Daves.

Curran Scores Big Win In IMCA Sport Modifieds 
At Keller Auto Speedway

Hanford, CA...August 14...Brent Curran won the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event Friday night at Keller Auto Speedway. This was the fifth round of the California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports. Curran snapped the four-race winning streak of series point leader Garrett Jernagan and in the process cut the lead to three points as Curran moved into second. The win paid Curran $750, thanks in part to sponsorship from Ken's Auto Body. Flo Racing broadcast the event live on internet pay-per-view and sponsored some of the purse money.

Curran and fellow Antioch area racer Todd Gomez led the pack to the green flag, but the complexion of the point battle was about to change. Aaron Farrell spun in Turn 4, collecting Jernagan among five other cars. Jernagan was eliminated in the incident. Curran continued to lead Gomez and Nick Spainhoward on the restart. Nathan Rolfe spun in Turn 2 for a Lap 3 yellow flag, but Curran continued to lead the way on the restart. A high pass in Turn 4 of the restart lap gained Spainhoward second from Gomez. It was Haley Gomez spinning to bring out a Lap 10 yellow flag, and Tyler Thomas spun a lap later to bring out the final yellow. The yellow flags didn't do anything to slow Curran down. On the final restart, he maintained his poise on the inside groove and would lead the rest of the way in victory. Spainhoward was running the outside, but he couldn't quite get the momentum to attempt a move on Curran as he settled for second. Doug Hagio made a Lap 17 pass on Gomez to take third as Gomez settled for fourth, followed by Ethan Killingsworth, Matt Mayo, Jason Bannister, Tanner Thomas, Jarrod Mounce and Brock Crawford.

There were 31 IMCA Sport Modifieds for the show. They they ran four eight lap heat races with the Top 4 transferring into the Main Event. Brock Crawford grabbed the lead from Justin Gonzales on the second lap and he would take it all the way to the checkered flag in the first heat race. Gonzalez settled for second ahead of Haley Gomez and David Pearson. 2018 Yreka champion Trevor Tiffee won the second heat race. Tiffee raced into the lead at the start. Series point leader Garrett Jernagan moved into the fourth transfer spot moments before contact saw him spin in Turn 2 for a lap six yellow flag. Tiffee continued to lead the race on the restart and held off a close challenge by Jarrod Mounce for the win. Mounce was charged with a jump-start infraction on the restart and dropped to fourth behind Aaron Farrell and Ethan Killingsworth at the finish.

Jason Bannister won the third heat race. Ryan DeForest led the opening lap before a yellow flag waved. On the restart, Bannister grabbed the lead with DeForest holding on in second. Nathan Rolfle settled into third on Lap 3, and they finished in order with Dylan Potter picking up the fourth and final transfer spot. 2014 State champion Nick Spainhoward won the fourth and final heat race. Spainhoward charged into the lead at the start with Todd Gomez running behind him in second. Tyler Thomas finished third, and Brent Curran made a last lap pass to finish fourth.

They ran one 10 lap last B Main with the Top 4 drivers transferring. Matt Mayo scored the victory. Mayo led a lap before Kyler Reynolds spun on the front straightaway for a yellow flag. Mayo led the restart over Kelly Wilkinson. Jernagan moved into fourth on Lap 3 and he moved by Doug Hagio a lap later. A low pass in Turn 4 of the fifth lap put Jernagan into second. Mayo led the rest of the way with Jernagan second ahead of Hagio, Tanner Thomas and Wilkinson.

Massey Wins Central Valley Mini Stock Main Event 
At Keller Auto Speedway

Hanford, CA...August 14...Clint Massey won the 20 lap House of JuJu Central Valley Mini Stock Main Event Friday night at Keller Auto Speedway. He becomes the fifth different winner in six races. The Mini Stocks were running in support of the California IMCA Speedweek race.

Massey jumped into the lead at the start as he had done in the non CVMS race in Hanford a week ago. This time, however, the bad luck wouldn't strike. Ryan Doglione was an early second over Jason Cook. Point leader Jeff Durant and reigning champion Dan Myrick had a back-and-forth battle going for the fourth position for several laps. Myrick went around the outside on Lap 7 to take fourth from Durant as he tried to close in on third place Jason Cook. A yellow flag for debris in Turn 2 bunched up the field. Massey continued to set the pace over Doglione as Myrick settled into third. An outside pass on the frontstretch of the 14th lap put Myrick into second, but Doglione went low in Turn 4 a lap later to regain the position. 2018 champion Greg Baronian pitted with a flat on Lap 14. Myrick's strong run came to an end with more bad luck as he headed for the pits on Lap 16 for yet another DNF. Massey had Doglione on his back bumper over the waning laps, but he kept his cool and picked up the victory. Jason Cook ended up third, followed by Durant, Gene Glover, Michael Hutchinson, Ethan Griffion, Jason Cook, Myrick and Haley Marvin.

Douglione was the quickest of 15 qualifiers on the 1/3 mile clay oval at 23.780. Massey was second quick of 24.019. Doglione outran Myrick to win the first of two eight lap heat races with Greg Baronian picking up the second heat over Shawn DePriest. For further information on what is going on with the group, go to www.centralvalleyministocks.com or go to the Central Valley Mini Stocks Facebook page.

Keller Auto Speedway Hosts Round #5 

Of IMCA California Speedweek Series Tonight

Hanford, CA...Keller Auto Speedway hasn't had an opportunity to host too many races this year thanks to the covid-19 shutdown, but they get the fifth round of the California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports, tonight.  The 1/3 mile clay oval has hosted some big Sprint Car races in it's time, but there have also been some thrilling IMCA Modified shows since the track's first year with the class back in 1989. We're anticipating that Friday's show will be one for the ages. Fans are not allowed in the grandstands yet, but you can catch all the action at www.floracing.com.

The IMCA Modified battle is certainly taking shape after four races. Bobby Hogge IV went to Placerville and put on a racing clinic by winning both the Modified and Limited Late Model Main Events that night. When they headed to Petaluma, it was current Antioch point leader and reigning Merced champion Troy Foulger getting the job done in a rather dominant performance. At Antioch, we had past Antioch, Watsonville and Petaluma champion Nick DeCarlo taking the checkered flag first. At Merced, Bakersfield champion Robby Sawyer claimed the glory. These four drivers are within 33 points of each other with just two events left to go. 

The winner's championship point fund prize will be $1,000, but it's more than that. You get to write your name in the book as the first-ever California IMCA Speedweek champion. They all want that honor. Hogge is the only driver of the group who has not missed the Top 5 in four races. In fact, he's made the podium all four nights. However, he still only has a six point lead over Sawyer. Sawyer has three Top 5 finishes, as does Foulger. Foulger trails Hogge by 17 points, and Pahrump, Nevada racer Jake Pike is 26 points back. After his bad performance in Merced, Nick DeCarlo slipped back to fifth, 33 points out of the lead.

Paul.Stone has certainly had an eventful Speedweek. At Petaluma, he started last in the Main Event and drove to an impressive second. That could very well be the most impressive performance of Speedweek so far, but the past Hanford and Merced champion is 34 points out of the lead and needs a big night tonight. 35 points back is a guy who has won two Wild West IMCA Speedweek Series titles, Kellen Chadwick. It really hasn't been a very good series for Chadwick, who has no Top 5 finishes yet. 38 points back is Bakersfield's Jerry Flippo, and Ryan Daves is 46 points out of the lead in 10th.

The guy that has everybody talking in the IMCA Sport Modified class is Garrett Jernagan. Jernagan has done something that nobody really thought would happen. He's won all four Main Events at Placerville, Petaluma, Antioch and Merced. He has scored 160 points, which is the maximum a driver ran have after four races. Two-time reigning Merced champion Fred Ryland has done everything he can. He's had three Top 5 finishes, but he's barely hanging on, 12 points out of the lead. Ryland thought he might have a shot at Merced and ran as high as second, but he fell to fourth by the time the checkered flag waved.

Second-generation racer Brent Curran has only been running in the class for a couple of seasons, but he's become one of the top drivers in the state. He's done so by traveling up and down the road, rather than concentrating on points at one track. With four Top 10 finishes, which is a feat only the Top 3 drivers in the standings have accomplished, Curran is 21 points out of the lead. He's kind of crept up into third, but he knows he needs to do more than just finish well. He needs something big to happen to make his move.

Tanner Thomas was happy to come back to his home track last night, but the Merced racer only managed a 10th place finish on that occasion. He's fallen 39 points out of the lead. After his stellar start, Jason Bannister has dropped to 41 points back in fifth. Some of these drivers may just be jockeying for a possible Top 5 position in the standings. Sixth place driver Todd Gomez is 45 points out, two ahead of Doug Hagio. Reigning Watsonville champion Jarrod Mounce is 66 points behind the leader, KC Keller is 68 points back, and Kenny Shrader is in 10th, 71 points out of lead. At this point, people are just wondering if anybody can beat Jernagan.

Running in support of the two Modified classes at Hanford will be the Central Valley Mini Stocks, sponsored by House of JuJu of Clovis in Morro Bay. The Mini Stock group tends to produce some of the biggest car counts for the class anywhere in the state of California, especially when they race in Hanford. They had a pavement race at Madera a couple of weeks ago, won by Rod Baronian over brother Greg Baronian. Greg is the 2018 Series champion. Reigning champion Dan Myrick has hit a bit of a slump in the last couple of races, but he still finds himself just six points out of the lead. Jeff Durant leads Myrick by six points. Myrick has a pair of feature wins, and Durant has one.

Gene Glover is third in the standings in another close battle. He's trailing Durant by 70 points, but he leads one-time winner Jason Cook by just two markers. Five points behind Glover is Greg Baronian. The balance of the Top 10 in the standings is made up of Clint Massey, Ethan Griffion, Shawn DePriest, past Hanford champion Andy Boydstun and Matthew Herod. There could be as many as two dozen Mini Stock racers on Friday night.

All eyes will be on the IMCA Modified and IMCA Sport Modified battles with the different storylines playing out. Can Hogge hold off Sawyer in the IMCA Modified point race? Can anybody beat Garrett Jernagan in the Sport Modifieds? Add in the CVMS Mini Stocks, and this will be a show worth watching. You can catch all the action on internet streaming via www.floracing.com.

Sawyer Becomes Fourth Different IMCA Modified Speedweek Winner At Merced

Merced, CA...August 13...Robby Sawyer won the 30 IMCA Modified Main Event Thursday night at Merced Speedway. This was the fourth round of the California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports. Sawyer collected $1,000 for his effort as the fourth different winner in as many races, and this also tightened the point battle between he and leader Bobby Hogge IV by a point. The race was broadcast on internet pay-per-view by Speedweek sponsor Flo Racing.

Justin Dunn had a front-row start and led early ahead of Sawyer and Kellen Chadwick. An inside pass in Turn 2 on Lap 3 three gained Hogge the third position. Sawyer began looking to the inside of Dunn and started to get a run on him as they worked Lap 7. A low move in Turn 2 of the ninth lap put Sawyer into the lead. Hogge went low in Turn 3 on Lap 10 to grab second, and Troy Foulger followed suit a lap later to move into third. The Top 3 cars started to pull away a little bit from the rest of pack, but fourth place Shane DeVolder caught them by Lap 22. Hogge tried to make a move on the inside of Sawyer in Turn 4 of the 24th lap, but there was contact. Hogge backed off and allowed Sawyer to correct. A Lap 28 yellow flag waved for Gavyn Manning. Troy Morris III had been making a move on the outside that put him into the Top 5, and DeVolder noticed him. On the restart, DeVolder got a good jump and moved around the outside of both Hogge and Foulger in Turn 4. DeVolder gave it a good run to the checkered flag, but Sawyer beat him back to the line for the victory. However, track officials called a jump-start infraction on DeVolder and dropped him two positions at the finish. This put Hogge second ahead of Foulger. DeVolder settled for fourth, followed by Dunn, Collen Winebarger, Jerry Flippo, Jake Pike, Chadwick and Jim Pettit II.

There were 55 IMCA Modifieds for this show, and they ran six 10 lap qualifying heat races with the Top 2 finishers making it into the feature race. Nick DeCarlo won the first heat race. For 7 laps, it looked like local star Ryan Porter was going to win, but he broke in Turn 4 for a yellow fag. This put DeCarlo into the lead. DeCarlo led the restart and the rest of the way with Gavyn Manning a close second, followed by Austin Kiefer and Cody Burke. Troy Morris III the won the second heat race. Mike White led early ahead of Morris, but a lap six yellow flag flew for Ryan Daves. Justin Hart brought out a yellow flag on the first restart attempt. White continued to lead Morris for a lap before an inside pass in Turn 4 of the seventh lap put Morris into the lead. An inside pass a lap later gained Justin Dunn second, and Morris won ahead of Dunn, White and Trevor Fitzgibbon.

Kellen Chadwick won the third heat race. Chadwick had a front row start for the action and charged into the early lead ahead of Bryan Clark. Robby Sawyer quickly settled into third, and he moved up to Clark's back bumper when a yellow flag waved for Mark Gaylord in Turn 4 of the seventh lap. As Chadwick led the way on the restart, Sawyer made a strong move on the inside to beat Clark back to the line on Lap 8 for second. Chadwick won ahead of Sawyer, Clark and Dakota Schweitzer. Collen Winebarger won the nonstop fourth heat. He charged into the lead at the start with reigning Merced champion Troy Foulger running closely behind him the entire distance for second. Jim Pettit II ended up third, followed by Tom Smith.

Bakersfield's Jerry Flippo won the fifth heat race, which was another race that needed no yellow flags. Past Merced champion Paul Stone ran closely behind Flippo the entire distance to finish second, followed by Jake Pike and Danny Wagner.  Shane DeVolder won the final eight lap heat race. DeVolder led from the outset ahead of Chris Sieweke. By the third lap, fifth row starter Bobby Hogge IV was already in third. A yellow flag flew for Justin Yaeger on Lap 5. Devolder remained in command on the restart, leaving Hogge and Sieweke to battle for the final transfer spot. Hogge made a low pass in Turn 4 on Lap 7 to take second from Sieweke and finished there as Sieweke settled for third ahead of Buddy Kniss.

They ran four 10 lap B Mains with the Top 2 finishers making it into the show. Jake Pike won the first B Main. Pike led at the start ahead of Austin Kiefer. On lap 5, Kiefer made an inside move on the frontstretch to take the lead, but Pike came back strong on the outside in Turn 2 to regain the lead a lap later. Pike and Kiefer both made the transfer as Roger Holder finished third ahead of Dakota Schweitzer and Alyssa Smith.

Danny Lauer won the second B Main. Mike White led at the start ahead of Chris Sieweke. Multi-time Santa Maria champion Danny Lauer settled into third before a yellow flag flew for Tim LaBrake in Turn 2 on Lap 3. White continued to lead the restart as Lauer slipped past Sieweke for second. There was another yellow flag on Lap 7. On the restart, Lauer got a good run on the inside and moved past White on the back straightaway. Lauer led the rest of the way for the win with White settling for the final transfer spot ahead of Tom Smith, Sieweke and Freddie Plourde III.

Bryan Clark won the third B Main. Clark had the lead at the start, and Danny Wagner quickly moved into second. Clark pulled away in the non-stop event, leaving Wagner to battle Cody Burke to hold on to the final transfer spot. Burke settled for third ahead of Robby Jeppeson and Brian Cass.

Jim Pettit  II won the final 10 lap B Main. He charged into a lead at the green flag ahead of Michael Thing. However, a low move in Turn 2 of the fourth lap gained reigning State champion Trevor Fitzgibbon second. Pettit pulled away from Fitzgibbon as he collected the victory. Fitzgibbon transferred in second, and Ryan Daves made a low pass in Turn 3 on Lap 7 to take the third place finish from Thing. Buddy Kniss completed the Top 5.

Jernagan Does It Again In IMCA Sport Modifieds At Merced Speedway

Merced, CA...August 13...Garrett Jernagan won the 25 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event Thursday night at Merced Speedway. This was the fourth round of the California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports. The Bakersfield racer came into the night as the point leader after winning the races at Placerville, Merced and Petaluma. He started back in the fifth row and methodically worked his way to the front of the pack to take the lead late. The win paid $750 to Jernagan, thanks in part to sponsorship from Ken's Auto Body. Flo Racing also sponsored some of the purse money and streamed the race on internet pay-per-view.

Cory Hemphill had a front row start and raced into the early lead ahead of Jarrod Mounce and Nathan Rolfe. A low pass in Turn 4 of the third lap gained Fred Ryland third, and a yellow flag flew for a spin in Turn 2, Tyler Thomas spun in Turn 2 on the first restart attempt. The next restart saw Hemphill leading Mounce and Ryland. Sheyne Bradley spun in Turn 2 for a Lap 5 yellow flag. On the restart, Hemphill continued to set the pace as Ryland went high around Mounce in Turn 4 to grab second. By then, Jernagan had made his way into sixth. Contact saw Nick Spainhoward spin in Turn 4 with four cars piling up behind him. On the Lap 7 restart, Mounce spun from third in Turn 2. Hemphill led Ryland and Jernagan on the restart. Jernagan went to work on Ryland, but a Lap 11 yellow flag flew when Ethan Killingsworth and Tanner Thomas both spun in Turn 2. Killingsworth had been running in fourth at the time. On the restart, Hemphill continued to lead as Jernagan went low in Turn 2 to grab second from Ryland. Hemphill and Jernagan ran the inside as Ryland kept working the outside line, and Tanner Thomas spun in Turn 2 for a Lap 16 yellow flag. Hemphill continued to lead Jernagan and Ryland on the restart. On the 21st lap, Jernagan got a good run on the inside in Turn 2 and exited with the lead. Jernagan began to pull away in the waning laps for the impressive victory. Hemphill settled for second. Chuck Weir made a late move around Fred Ryland for the third position as Ryland settled for fourth ahead of the resurgent Spainhoward, Rolfe, Brent Curran, State point leader Timothy Allerdings, Doug Hagio and Tanner Thomas.

The IMCA Sport Modifieds had 35 cars for the show, and they once again ran four 10 lap heat races with the Top 4 drivers transferring into the Main Event. With a front row start in the first heat race, two-time reigning Merced Speedway champion Fred Ryland charged into the lead at the start ahead of Doug Hagio and Garrett Jernagan. A yellow flag waved for a tangle in Turn 1 involving Todd Gomez and Kodie Dean on Lap 5. On the restart, Ryland continued to lead the way as Jernagan and Kaylin Lopez ran second and third. Ryland drove a flawless race and led the rest of the way as Jernagan held off Lopez for second. Lopez was disqualified in post race tech, giving third to Hagio ahead of Tanner Thomas. Nick Spainhoward won a non-stop second heat. He jumped into the lead from the start and pulled away to a straightaway advantage by the time the race concluded. State point leader Timothy Allerdings led the race until Markus Frazier went low in Turn 1 on the second lap to take the second position. David Pearson made a late pass on Allerdings, who settled for a fourth place finish.

Yreka champion Ethan Killingsworth won the third heat race. Killingsworth led from the outset with Cody Parker an early second. A yellow flag flew for debris on Lap 3. Nathan Rolfe moved around Parker in Turn 2 to grab the second position and finished there as Killingsworth led the way in victory. Parker surrendered third to reigning Watsonville champion Jarrod Mounce on Lap 8, but he beat Aaron Farrell back to the line in a near photo finish for fourth. However, Ferrell ended up with fourth after Parker with disqualified in post-race tech. The final heat race was won by Cory Hemphill. Following a restart on the opening lap, this race went without a yellow flag. Brent Curran raced into the early lead ahead of Hemphill, but that battle would get interesting. Hemphill started looking to the inside of Curran on Lap 4, and he finally made an inside pass on the backstretch on Lap 6 to grab the lead. Hemphill led the rest of the way for the win with Curran settling for second. 2018 Yreka champion Trevor Tiffee moved around Chuck Weir on Lap 7 as Weir settled for the fourth place finish.

The two 10 lap B Mains transferred just two drivers into the Main Event. Sheyne Bradley led the opening two tours of the first B Main before an inside pass on the backstretch gained past Merced champion Jeremy Hoff the lead. Hoff pulled away from Bradley over the final seven laps to grab the apparent victory as Bradley crossed the line in second. Tyler Thomas was a race long third, followed by Kaylin Lopez and Joe Salvi. Hoff was later disqualified in post-race tech, moving everybody up a position.

Andrew Pearce won the second 10 lap B Main. following a restart for a spin, Justin Gonzalez led the opening two laps ahead of Pearce. A yellow flag waved for.debris on the track, and Pearce took the lead from Gonzalez on the restart. Pearce pulled away, leaving Gonzalez and Cale Kanke to duel it out for second. Gonzalez won that battle as Haley Gomez and Crystal Hemphill completed the Top 5

Johnson Wins IMCA Stock Car Race At Merced Speedway

Merced, CA...August 13...Cody Johnson won the 20 lap IMCA Stock Car Main Event Thursday night at Merced Speedway. This was the first race for the IMCA Stock Cars at the quarter-mile clay oval, and they were added as a support class for the California IMCA Speedweek Series. Johnson is one of the top stars in the class at both Keller Auto Speedway and Bakersfield Speedway. 

Cody Johnson jumped into the lead at the start ahead of multi-time Hanford champion Troy Petee and Brock Hamilton. Chris Broucaret spun for a Lap 2 yellow flag. During the yellow flag period,  Hamilton headed to the pits. Cody Johnson continued to lead Patee with Garrett Corn moving into a side-by-side battle with the Patee for second. Chris Bennett spun in Turn 2 for a Lap 4 yellow flag, and Corn made an inside pass in Turn 2 on the restart lap to move into second behind Cody Johnson. A low pass in Turn 2 of the sixth lap gained Chad Johnson third with multi-time Merced Hobby Stock champion Bruce "Bubba" Nelson following into fourth. Bennett spun for the final time in Turn 2 on Lap 9 to end his race. On the restart, Cody Johnson led Corn and Chad Johnson, but an outside pass on the frontstretch of the 12th lap put Nelson in into third. Nelson was running on the razor's edge on the extreme outside groove, and it was a close three-car race between he, leader Cody Johnson and Corn. Unfortunately, Nelson slipped off the track in Turn 2 on Lap 16 for a yellow flag that ended his race. Cody Johnson led with reigning Hanford champion Chad Johnson following into second on the restart. Corn slipped off the groove in Turn 4 and fell back a few positions as Jeff Streeter gained third on Lap 19. Chad Johnson tried to make a move on Cody Johnson on the final lap, but Cody Johnson prevailed at the checkered flag. Streeter finished third, followed by Patee, Chris Broucaret, Corn, Josh Nichols, Tim Elias, Renn Bane and Nelson.

There were 18 cars for this historic first appearance of the IMCA Stock Cars at Merced, and Cody Johnson outran Chad Johnson and Nick Johnson for the 1-2-3 finish in the first eight lap heat race. Garrett Corn won the other heat race ahead of Chris Bennett and Troy Patee. The race was marred by a rollover for Nelson, who jumped into the Michael Shearer car for the Main Event. For news and information on what will be happening next at the track, go to www.mercedspeedway.net or the Merced Speedway Facebook page.

Second Half Of California IMCA Speedweek Series Begins At Merced Speedway

Merced, CA...The second half of the California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports, begins Thursday night at Merced Speedway. The racing in both the IMCA Modified and Sport Modified divisions has been phenomenal so far, and the point battles are certainly taking shape in both classes. If you put yourself in a position to have a shot at the championship, these last three races are the time to make your move. It begins with the 70 year old quarter-mile clay oval at the Merced County Fairgrounds.

Bobby Hogge IV has done what he needs to do so far in the IMCA Modifieds. He has yet to finish outside of the Top 3 in any race. He followed his win at Placerville and third place finish at Petaluma with a solid second at Antioch Speedway. He has a seven point lead over Bakersfield champion Robby Sawyer. Sawyer needed a good performance at Antioch, and he got one as he finished third. As we head further down south, we are going to tracks that Sawyer is more comfortable with.

Four-time Antioch champion, current Antioch point leader and reigning Merced Speedway champion Troy Foulger did what he needed to do at Antioch. He drove the Bowers Motorsports Modified from last starting to a fifth place finish, and that moved him into third of the standings in a tie with Paul Stone. Stone is another driver who has won championships at Merced Speedway. These two drivers will be hoping to make a big statement on Thursday. Just one point behind them and 17 behind Hogge is Nick DeCarlo. DeCarlo needed to come up big in Antioch, and he got his first series win there.

If you are in the Top 10, you've still got a shot at winning the title or at least making it up into the Top 5. Second-generation racer Jake Pike of Pahrump, Nevada is 20 points out of the lead in sixth, Ryan Daves is 23 points out, Kellen Chadwick trails by 28 points, Brian Cass is 31 points out and Jerry Flippo is 33 back in 10th. For Chadwick, Antioch was an opportunity to gain some ground, but his night ended in disappointment. 

Garrett Jernagan has done everything a racer should do if they're going to win the championship. The Bakersfield leadfoot has won all three IMCA Sport Modified Main Events. This gives him a perfect score of 120 points. Fellow Bakersfield racer Jason Bannister and 2017 Antioch champion KC Keller both failed to make the show at Antioch, and that enabled two-time reigning Merced champion Fred Ryland to use his third place finish at Antioch to move by both of them into second in the standings. Ryland is nine points behind Jernagan, but he knows he needs a big night. He's done more racing at Merced than any other track in the last few years, so it will be interesting to see what he can accomplish.

Brent Curran managed a solid fourth place finish in Antioch as he stays 15 points out of the lead. While Curran has won quite a bit at Antioch in the last couple years, he's traveled to several different venues throughout California in an effort to get more experience. This will be the big test as we move further south, but the second-generation racer shouldn't be counted out. Just four points behind Curran is perhaps the dark horse of the battle, Todd Gomez. Gomez has just been hanging in there, and he earned his third Top 10 finish at Antioch. Only the Top 4 drivers in the standings can say they have all Top 10 finishes. He managed to get past Keller, who slipped to fifth in the standings, 28 points out of the lead.

Bannister will be hoping to revive his effort after his dismal Antioch showing. He was very much in the hunt, but now he finds himself 29 points back in sixth. The drivers behind him that fill out the remainder of the Top 10 will have a tall order trying to make a claim on the championship. Merced is the home track for Tanner Thomas, who is seventh, 30 points back. Kenny Shrader is eighth, 31 points out of the lead. 39 points back is Doug Hagio and Chase Thomas is 40 points out of first. Points may be one question, but there's a bigger question. Can anybody beat Garrett Jernagan? The Bakersfield star is having the biggest moment of his career during Speedweek. Can you think of a better time to make such a statement? 

The drivers will roll into Merced and do what they do at these big events. Cars will go up on jack stands and everybody will make repairs and adjustments. This is another opportunity to make a statement and claim some glory. Fans are not going to be allowed in the grandstands at any of these tracks, but you won't have to miss anything. You can tune in to all the action via internet pay-per-view at www.floracing.com. These two divisions will be joined by the IMCA Stock Cars, and further information can be found at www.mercedspeedway.net.

DeCarlo Third Different IMCA Modified Speedweek Winner At Antioch Speedway

Antioch, CA...August 12...Nick DeCarlo won the 30 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Wednesday night at Antioch Speedway. This was the third round of the California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports. The past Antioch, Petaluma and Watsonville IMCA Modified champion became the third different winner in the series, and the win paid $1,000.

DeCarlo started in the second row, and it was polesitter Robby Sawyer charging into the early lead over fellow Bakersfield racer Jerry Flippo. DeCarlo went around the outside of Flippo for the second position on Lap 3. A lap later, DeCarlo made an outside pass on the frontstretch to take the lead from Sawyer. Sawyer came back strong on the inside in Turn 4 on Lap 5 to regain the lead, but DeCarlo made a high pass in Turn 4 a lap later to take over again. Bobby Hogge IV made an inside pass on Flippo to take third on Lap 6 and began battling Sawyer for the second position. DeCarlo had about a half-straightaway lead over Flippo when the yellow flag flew on Lap 13 for a Kellen Chadwick spin in Turn 2. DeCarlo continued to lead the race as Hogge and Sawyer battled fiercely for second. A yellow flag waved on Lap 20 when Jim Pettit II, Paul Stone and Trevor Fitzgibbon tangled in Turn 4. That was the final slowdown of the race. DeCarlo led Sawyer and Hogge on the restart, but Hogge made a low pass in Turn 2 on Lap 21 to take over second. Danny Wagner moved by Flippo for the fourth position. Hogge tried to reel in DeCarlo, but there was not much he could do as time ran out. DeCarlo scored the impressive win ahead of Hogge, Sawyer, Wagner, last starter Troy Foulger, Flippo, Jake Pike, Ryan Daves, Cody Burke and Tom Smith.

The IMCA Modifieds had 49 cars for this show and that meant six 10 lap qualifying heat races that would transfer just the Top 2 finishers. With a front-row start, Robby Sawyer wasted little time jumping into the lead in the first heat race. Despite a Dale Sauter spin bringing out a Lap 4 yellow flag, Sawyer resumed command on the restart and brought it home to the victory. Brian Cass and Tom Smith had a spirited dual for the second position and swapped the position a couple of times. However, Cass came out ahead at the checkered flag followed by Smith and Cody Burke. The second heat race saw two yellow flags eliminate four of the eight starters. Bakersfield's Jerry Flippo led the restart and all 10 laps to hold off 2017 Antioch champion Bobby Motts Jr, Mark Gaylord  and Tim LaBrake.

Shane DeVolder won the third heat race. John Pierce led a lap before an inside pass on the backstretch gained DeVolder the lead. Nick DeCarlo followed closely into second, and the duo pulled away from the rest of the pack. Trevor Fitzgibbon made a move around Pierce for the third position on Lap 7, but he ran out of time as reigning Cottage Grove champion Jake Mayden finished fourth. Zane DeVilbiss won the fourth heat race. He bolted into the lead at the start ahead of Kellen Chadwick. DeVilbiss pulled away from the pack, leaving Chadwick to hold off Aaron Crowell for the second place finish. Jim Pettit II ended up fourth.

Bobby Hogge IV won fifth heat race. A false start saw Justin Yaeger get put to the second row for the next restart, and contact sent him spinning in the Turn 2 without a yellow flag as Yeager kept going. Hogge led the way at the start and easily led the entire race for the win. Danny Wagner held off a late threat from Paul Stone to finish second as Randy Shafer ended up fourth. Mike White won the final 10 lap heat race. He bolted into the lead at the start, leaving a good battle for second. JC Elrod held that position in a battle with Michael Thing. They exchanged the position a couple times. Contact between the two in Turn 4 on Lap 7 enabled Jason Pike to get the second spot. Elrod spun in Turn 4 for a Lap 8 yellow flag. White continued to lead the way and took the checkered flag in first. Ryan Daves moved in to challenge Pike on the last lap and beat him back to the line to steal the final transfer spot. Pike settled for third ahead of Thing.

Tom Smith won the first of four 10 Lap B Mains that transferred the Top 2 finishers into the feature race. Smith led Paul Stone, who ran closely behind him. A yellow flag for a spin in Turn 4 didn't stop Smith. He continued to hold off Stone on the restart and for the rest of the race for the win. Gavyn Manning ended up third ahead of Jake Mayden and Paul Guglielmoni. 

Jake Pike won the second 10 lap B Main. Pike bolted into the lead at the start with Jim Pettit II following not far behind in second. A yellow flag waved on Lap 6 for debris on the track, but Pike continued to hold off Pettit in a close battle for the victory. Terry Hershberger finished third, followed by Troy Morris III and Clark Guglielmoni.

Reigning State champion Trevor Fitzgibbon won the third B Main. The race was marred by yellow flags on Lap 5 for Alyssa Smith and Lap 6 Justin Dunn. With Cody Burke giving him all kinds of pressure, Smith continued to lead on the final restart. Fitzgibbon stayed smooth under pressure and held off Burke for the win as Randy Shafer held off a last-lap bid by Dakota Schweitzer to take over third. Chris Sieweke finished fifth.

2004 Antioch champion Aaron Crowell won the final 10 Lap B Main. Crowell led the race from the start ahead current Antioch point leader Troy Foulger. Michael Thing spun out of third in Turn 2 for a Lap 5 yellow flag. Crowell continued to lead the way over Foulger and Petaluma Speedway point leader Anthony Slaney. The lead trio finished in order as Ray Trimble and Thing rounded out the Top 5. 

Jernagan Does It Again With IMCA Sport Modified Win At Antioch Speedway

Antioch, CA...August 12...Garrett Jernagan won the 25 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event Wednesday night at Antioch Speedway. This was the third round of the California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports. This was also the third win for the Bakersfield driver as he continues to lead the series point standings. He picked up $750 for the win, in part sponsored by Ken's Body Shop. Flo Racing not only streamed the action on internet pay-per-view, they also helped sponsor the purse. 

With his front row start, reigning State champion Guy Ahlwardt set the early pace ahead of Brent Curran. An inside pass in Turn 2 of the second lap gained reigning Merced Speedway champion Fred Ryland third, and reigning track champion Tommy Fraser made an inside pass on the backstretch on Lap 3 to take third. A yellow flag flew for Shayne Bradley. Ahlwardt continued to lead the restart with Fraser using an outside pass on the backstretch to take second from Ryland. Jernagan had moved from the fifth row to fourth at that point and began challenging Ryland for third. Fraser was keeping it close with Ahlwardt in a good battle for the lead, but a yellow flag flew on Lap 17 for a Jacob Haas spin in Turn 4. The restart saw contact send Fraser spinning from second for another yellow flag. Ahlwardt led the restart with Jernagan moving by Ryland for second. The final yellow flag flew as Nick Spainhoward stalled on the back straightaway. The Lap 18 restart saw Ahlwardt being pressured hard by Jernagan before he grabbed the lead. Once in front, Jernagan led the rest of the way for the impressive victory. Ahlwardt settled for second, followed by Ryland, Curran, Andrew Peckham, Chase Thomas, Todd Gomez, Kenny Shrader, Trevor Clymens and Doug Hagio.

There were 39 IMCA Sport Modifieds for this show, and they ran four 10 lap qualifying heat races with the Top 4 finishers transferring into the Main Event. In the first heat, Trevor Bannister was eliminated by the one and done rule after contact sent him spinning in Turn 2 for a Lap 3 yellow flag. Jayson Bradley led the first seven laps before reigning track champion Tommy Fraser got by to get the lead and eventual victory. Bradley settled for second, followed by Trevor Tiffee and Andrew Pearce. Todd Gomez won the second heat race. He grabbed the lead from Doug Hagio on the third lap. Gomez pulled away during the second half of the race, and reigning Watsonville champion Jarrod Mounce made a Lap 5 pass on Hagio to cross the line in second. Following a post-race tech disqualification for Mounce, reigning State champion Guy Ahlwardt's move around Hagio late ended up being for a second place. Hagio finished third ahead of Trevor Clymens.  

The third heat race went without incident, and Chase Thomas led the pack from the start. Garrett Jernagan made a move low in Turn 2 on Lap 4 to grab the third spot from Kenny Neu with Fred Ryland following into fourth. An inside pass at the frontstretch on Lap 7 gained Jernagan second from KC Keller. Nobody was stopping Thomas as he won ahead of Jernagan. Keller was disqualified from third in post race tech, moving Ryland into third and Neu into the fourth and final transfer spot. The fourth heat race also ran without incident as Brent Curran led from the start to get the win. reigning Yreka champion Ethan Killingsworth had second until Andrew Peckham went low in Turn 4 on Lap 7 to take the position. Killingsworth finished third as Mark Garner made a move on Nick Caughman Jr on the last lap for fourth.

The first of two 10 lap B Mains that would transfer the Top 2 finishers was a brutal affair. The opening lap saw a tangle between championship contenders Jason Bannister and KC Keller in Turn 4. Both drivers were allowed to continue and Tanner Thomas was the leader. The next restart went just one lap before another crash brought out a yellow flag. Thomas led the Lap 3 restart, but a crash eliminated Bannister in Turn 4. Thomas again led the restart, but a Lap 4 yellow flag waved when Tommy Clymens Jr and Aaron Farrell crashed, eliminating both. This left just three cars running, and Thomas continued leading the way. Rookie Jacob Haas surprised Keller by taking the second spot from him on the restart. It was a blanket race at the front of the pack between all three cars. Haas was taking looks to the inside of Thomas, but Thomas was hanging tough as the laps counted on. As Thomas won, Keller got sideways exiting Turn 4, allowing Haas to drive on to the transfer spot in second. Keller settled for third, and Bannister returned to cross the line in fourth.

Kenny Shrader won the second 10 lap B Main. He led from the outset, leaving Nick Caughman Jr and past State champion Nick Spainhoward to battle for second. An outside pass on the backstretch of the fifth lap gained Spainhoward second from Caughman, and debris on the track forced a Lap 6 yellow flag. Shrader continued to lead on the restart and held off a late threat from Spainhoward to win. Cory Hemphill finished third, followed by Jarrod Mounce and Haley Gomez.

Dutra Wins Hobby Stock Main Event At Antioch Speedway

Antioch, CA...August 12...Travis Dutra won the 20 lap Jay's Mobile Welding Hobby Stock Main Event Wednesday night at Antioch Speedway. The division ran in support of the California IMCA Speedweek Series. This was the third win of the season for the past Petaluma Speedway Dwarf Car champion. It was also his second-straight win after a rough previous month that saw him blow two motors. 

Dutra had a front row start for the race and charged into the lead at the green flag ahead of James Thomson and past champion Brad Myers. Thomson got sideways in Turn 4 and Domossie Scoggins had managed to pass Myers in Turn 2. This allowed Scoggins to cross the line on Lap 4 in the second position. Thomson quickly moved back around Myers for the third spot a lap later. An inside pass on the frontstretch of the ninth lap gained Thomson second from Scoggins, and Nick Zapatero spun in Turn 4 for a yellow flag. This erased a sizable lead for Dutra, who was masterfully working slower traffic. Dutra remained in command over Thomson and Scoggins on the restart. A low pass in Turn 4 of the 13th lap put Myers into third, and Scoggins had a right rear flat tire. A Jeff Bentancourt spin in Turn 4 forced a Lap 16 yellow flag. Undaunted, Dutra bolted ahead on the restart and went on to score the win. Thompson ended up second. An inside pass down the frontstretch on Lap 18 gained Larry McKenzie third from Myers. This duo battled fiercely for the remainder of the race with MacKenzie finishing just ahead of Myers as Bentancourt ended up fifth. The eight lap heat race wins went to Dutra and Josh Leach.

Antioch Speedway will host a show featuring Wingless Spec Sprints, Delta Dwarf Cars, Super Stocks and BCRA Midgets on Saturday night. On August 22nd, it's the Hetrick Memorial race, featuring IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Four Bangers. For further information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

 California IMCA Speedweek Series Rolls Into Antioch Tonight

Antioch, CA...August 12...The California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports, rolls into Antioch Speedway tonight for some exciting IMCA Modified and Sport Modified racing on the quarter-mile clay oval. Fan attendance is not allowed in the grandstands due to the covid-19 guidelines, but you can catch all of the action online through the www.floracing.com internet pay-per-view service.

The IMCA Modifieds battle is taking shape after races at Placerville and Petaluma. The wins have gone to Bobby Hogge IV and Troy Foulger, respectively. Only Hogge and Paul Stone count themselves as drivers who have Top 5 finishes in both races. Stone's second Top 5 was quite impressive as he charged from 20th starting to finish second last night at Petaluma. In doing so, he had to move by Hogge, who ended up third. Nobody was catching Foulger on that occasion.

At the moment, Hogge has 78 points and a three point lead over Stone. Only six points out of the lead is Bakersfield champion Robby Sawyer, who has certainly been entertaining to watch so far. 13 points out of the lead after their big Petaluma victory is the Bowers Motorsports team with Foulger behind the wheel. They are three points ahead of Pahrump, Nevada racer Jake Pike. Ryan Daves, Kellen Chadwick, Nick DeCarlo, Zane DeVilbiss of Farmington, New Mexico, and the tied Brian Cass and Jeffrey Faulkner complete the Top 10 coming into this race. They are all within 21 points or less of the lead. 

From the Petaluma 3/8 mile adobe oval, the quarter-mile at Antioch will present a different challenge for the racers. Hogge and Foulger have handled themselves well there through the years. Hogge has won over 70 Main Events in his career at Antioch Speedway alone. Foulger is a four-time division champion and the current point leader at Antioch. Likewise, Chadwick has won some big races at Antioch and is a past champion. DeCarlo is not only a champion at Antioch, he's the only driver in the group to win Modified titles at Petaluma and Watsonville as well. It should be an exciting show.

In IMCA Sport Modifieds, Bakersfield's Garrett Jernagan has surprised the field. We've seen him have some good moments down in Bakersfield and Hanford in recent years, but Jernagan has turned in a somewhat dominant performance with feature triumphs at both Placerville and Petaluma. Only 2017 Antioch champion KC Keller and Bakersfield's Jason Bannister have Top 5 finishes in both of the races held so far. The point race is still close. Jernagan has 80 points and a four point lead over the tied Keller and Bannister.

Placerville didn't go as well as he would have liked, but two-time reigning Merced Speedway champion Fred Ryland recovered nicely with a second place finish at Petaluma. This keeps him seven points out of the lead. There's a tie for fifth between reigning Chico champion Matt Micheli and Brent Curran, both 12 points out. 13 points behind in seventh is Todd Gomez after an impressive drive through the pack to finish fifth at Petaluma last night. Tanner Thomas, Kenny Shrader and Doug Hagio are all within 30 points or less of the lead going into Antioch.

Both Jernagan and Bannister were well aware of the fact that they needed to perform well up north as the series ends down in their neck of the woods. They have accomplished that goal so far. At Antioch Speedway, Ryland has won over 40 Main Events in his career, with just over 20 of them happening in IMCA Modifieds. He's also the 2015 champion there. Keller is also an Antioch champion, and both Curran and Gomez have performed well there in the past. Gomez is a past Antioch Speedway Street Stock champion. There are also a few locals, including two-time champion Trevor Clymens and reigning champion Tommy Fraser, who could mix it up with the Speedweek stars tonight. Nobody has won more Main Events in this division at Antioch than Clymens, who won last week.

Antioch Speedway will be the halfway point of the series with Merced, Hanford and the finale at Bakersfield coming up in the next three days. Joining these two exciting divisions will be the local Hobby Stocks, and they always seem to put on a good show. Again, you can't attend in the grandstands due to the covid-19 guidelines, but you can watch every bit of the action via www.floracing.com. For official track information, go to www.antiochspeedway.com.

Foulger Impresses With Petaluma Speedway 

IMCA Modified Win

Petaluma, CA...August 11...Troy Foulger won the 30 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Tuesday night at Petaluma Speedway. This was the second round of the six-race California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports. Thanks to some additional local sponsorship, the win paid Foulger $1,500 aboard the Bowers Motorsports Modified. Foulger also had a little bit of luck on his side as a tech disqualification of the apparent winner of his heat race moved him up a spot and enabled him to avoid running a B Main

Foulger raced into the lead at the start ahead of Jerry Flippo and Cody Burke. An inside pass in Turn 2 of the second lap gained Burke second. Nick DeCarlo was running in the Top 5, but he slowed and pitted in the infield on Lap 5 as Placerville winner Bobby Hogge IV moved into fourth. Burke's car began to smoke noticeably on Lap 6. An inside pass on the backstretch of the ninth lap gained Flippo second from Burke as Hogge moved into third. By then, Foulger held a straightaway advantage and was lapping slower cars. The traffic didn't slow Foulger as he was still leading by a straightaway by the time a Lap 14 yellow flag flew for Tim Yeager. On the restart, Foulger continued to hold command, and Flippo pushed in Turn 2, allowing Hogge and Paul Stone to move into second and third. Contact put Trevor Fitzgibbon into the back wall for a Lap 16 yellow flag. Foulger resumed command on the restart as Stone made an outside pass on the backstretch to take second from Hogge. Foulger had the car dialed in, and he again built a straightaway advantage over everybody else by the time the checkered flag waved. Stone was a solid second ahead of Hogge, Zane DeVilbiss, Paul Guglielmoni, Robby Sawyer, Kellen Chadwick, Flippo, Ryan Daves and Brian Cass.

There were 50 IMCA Modifieds for this show, and that meant six 10 lap qualifying heat races that would transfer just the Top 2 finishers into the Main Event. Jeff Thomas led the first race through one yellow flag for Ray Trimble on Lap 3. Thomas appeared to have things in hand until having problems in Turn 4 on Lap 7 as Alyssa Smith drove by. Thomas surrendered second to Tim Yaeger with a backstretch pass a lap later. Smith appeared to win the race ahead of Yaeger, Vinny Raucci and Thomas. However, Smith was disqualified in post-race tech. After a yellow flag on the opening lap, the second heat race ran rapidly with Kellen Chadwick leading from the outset to score an apparent victory. The battle was for second, and Nick DeCarlo outran Troy Foulger to get the spot. Jim Pettit II crossed the line fourth. After Chadwick was disqualified in post-race tech, that was your Top 3.

Bobby Hogge IV won the third heat race. Seven-time track champion Michael Paul Jr led one lap before spinning to end his race. Hogge led 2016 Antioch Speedway champion Bobby Motts Jr on the restart. As Hogge led the way, an inside pass in Turn 1 gained Brian Cass second on Lap 5. Hogge cruised to victory ahead of Cass, Motts, and Ryan Daves. Jimmy Flippo won an action-packed fourth heat race. Flippo led at the start with Trevor Fitzgibbon running second. Fitzgibbon and Robby Sawyer exchanged second on Lap 7, but Fitzgibbon made a Turn 2 pass on Lap 8 to regain the position. An inside pass on the backstretch on the Lap 9 gave Fitzgibbon the lead, but Flippo went back underneath him in Turn 2 on the final lap to take the lead and victory. Contact between Fitzgibbon and Sawyer in the final turn resulted in Fitzgibbon finishing second ahead of Justin Dunn and Freddie Plourde III.

Cody Burke won the fifth heat race. Two early yellow flags slowed the pace, and then the race finally got started and went without incident. Burke built a straightaway advantage on his way to victory. Troy Morris III held second until washing out in Turn 3 on Lap 5, allowing Jake Pike to grab the position. Pike battled Paul Guglielmoni to finish second as Morris settled for fourth. Billy Wilker won the final heat race. Zane DeVilbiss led the race until a Lap 7 yellow flag flew for Mark Gaylord in Turn 2. On the restart, Wilker made a challenge on DeVilbiss and passed him on the inside down the backstretch to take the lead. DeVilbiss settled for second ahead of Gavyn Manning and Randy Shafer.

Paul Guglielmoni won the first 10 lap B Main. Guglielmoni led all the way with Ryan Daves pressuring him hard down the stretch in a close second place finish. Michael Paul started deep in the pack and grabbed third from Jeff Thomas by Lap 7, but he and fourth place Thomas would not make the transfer as only the Top 2 in each B Main got into the show. 

Jeff Faulkner won the second 10 lap B Main. Jim Pettit II led the opening two laps before something broke in Turn 4 to bring out a yellow flag. This put Anthony Slaney into the lead, but two yellow flags slowed things before the third restart attempt. Slaney was charged with a jump start on the single-file restart and dropped to second behind Faulkner. Faulkner led the rest of the way. Slaney broke a driveline in Turn 4 for a Lap 8 yellow flag. From the back of the pack, Kellen Chadwick was second at that point and chased Faulkner across the line as Freddie Plourde III and John Pierce rounded up the Top 4.

Bobby Motts Jr won the third 10 lap B Main. Motts led from the start, but Chris Sieweke made a low pass in Turn 4 on Lap 4 to briefly grab the lead. Motts went high a lap later to retake the lead as Danny Wagner moved up on the lead battle. A Lap 6 yellow flag flew for Tim LaBrake. Motts continued to lead the restart, and Sieweke held off a serious threat from Danny Wagner on the last lap to finish second. Michael Thing ended up fourth.

Robby Sawyer won the final 10 lap B Main. Tom Smith led the first three laps before a yellow flag waved. On the restart lap, Smith got sideways in Turn 3, and this allowed Sawyer to race into the lead over Justin Dunn and Paul Stone. A Lap 5 flag yellow flag flew for Justin Yeager. On the restart, Sawyer led with Stone moving into second. They finished in that order with Dunn settling for third ahead of Mark Gaylord.

Jernagan Does It Again In IMCA Sport Modifieds At Petaluma Speedway

Petaluma, CA...August 11...Garrett Jernagan won the 25 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event Tuesday night at Petaluma Speedway. This was the second round of the California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports. Jernagan pocketed the $750 first prize, sponsored in part by Ken's Auto Body. Flo Racing was streaming the show online on internet pay-per-view and sponsored some additional purse money. Jernagan was the winner of the show at Placerville the night before. On this occasion, he started up front and had the lead at the very start.

Jernagan raced into the lead at the green flag ahead of Kenny Shrader. Tyler Thomas stalled in Turn 4 for a yellow flag on Lap 1. Jernagan led Fred Ryland on the restart with Jason Bannister in third. Bannister slipped past Ryland for second on Lap 3. Cory Hemphill stalled on the backstretch from his Top 5 run for a Lap 8 yellow flag. Jernagan continued to lead Bannister and Ryland on the restart with another yellow flag falling for a Turn 3 spin for Tanner Thomas. Jernagan still led Bannister and Ryland on the restart, and the lead trio were running well. Jernagan was closing in on slower traffic as Todd Gomez moved into the Top 5 behind KC Keller. Jernagan had a scary moment on the backstretch as Kyler Reynolds and Vaughn Vondera tangled for a yellow flag on Lap 21. Fred Ryland had made an inside pass on the frontstretch moments before to take second from Bannister. Jernagan led Ryland on the restart as Keller began challenging Bannister for third. As Jernagan took the checkered flag ahead of Ryland, Keller beat Bannister back to the line to finish third. Gomez finished fifth, followed by Brent Curran, Jarrod Mounce, Matt Micheli, Tanner Thomas and Trevor Tiffee.

The IMCA Sport Modifieds ran four 10 lap qualifying heat races with the Top 4 finishers in each transferring directly in the Main Event. Reigning Chico champion Matt Micheli won the first heat race. The race ran without incident, and Micheli led from the outset ahead of Brent Curran. KC Keller made a move around Doug Hagio on Lap 4 to take third and finish the there as Hagio transferred in fourth. The second heat was a rapidly run affair with reigning Merced Speedway champion Fred Ryland leading from the outset. Monday Placerville winner Garrett Jernagan made a Turn 4 pass on Chuck Weir to take second and finished there. Weir and Tanner Thomas battled for the third position down the stretch, but Weir held off Thomas at the checkered flag.

Cory Hemphill won the third heat race. Kelly Campanile led two laps before a yellow flag flew as Tyler Thomas spun in Turn 2. Past Petaluma Modified champion Nick Caughman Jr  spun but got it going, resulting in the Thomas spin. Caughman was assigned the yellow flag to end his race. Hemphill took the lead from Campanile on the restart as Kenny Neu followed into second. They finished in that order with Campanile finishing third ahead of Thomas. Kenny Shrader won the final heat race. Shrader led from the start ahead of Chase Thomas. Jason Bannister got around Ryan DeForest for third on Lap 2 and would finish in that position. DeForest surrendered the fourth and final transfer spot to Todd Gomez on the fifth lap.

Reigning Yreka champion Ethan Killingsworth won the 10 lap B Main. There was just one B Main, and the Top 4 finishers earned transfer positions. Yellow flags flew on Lap 2 for Scott Foster and Aaron Farrell in separate incidents. Killingsworth led the restart as Ryan DeForest and Nick Caughman Jr settled into second and third. Unfortunately for Caughman, he suffered mechanical issues and brought out a Lap 7 yellow flag. Killingsworth led the final restart ahead of Ryan DeForest, and they crossed the finish line in that order. Vaughn Vondera ended up third. Kyler Reynolds got a good jump on Trevor Tiffee on the final restart to steal the fourth place finish as Tiffee settled for fifth. Unfortunately, Killingsworth was disqualified in post-race tech, moving everybody behind him up a position.

Studebaker Wins Lumberjacks Restaurant Super Stock 

Main Event At Petaluma Speedway

Petaluma, CA...August 11...Steve Studebaker won the 25 lap Lumberjacks Restaurant Super Stock Main Event Tuesday night at Petaluma Speedway. The Super Stocks ran in support of the California IMCA Speedweek event. This was the second win of the season for the two-time division champion.

Studebaker started in the second row and charged into the lead at the drop of the green flag with point leader Matt While settling into second. Shawn McCoy ran third and was being challenged by two-time reigning champion Mitch Machado. Machado went low in Turn 4 on Lap 6 to grab the third position. Justin Zwicker spun in Turn 3 but kept going without need of a yellow flag. There were no yellow flags in this race, and Studebaker steadily pulled away from While. Jay Bryant took the fourth position from McCoy on Lap 14. Bryant found himself in third on lap 16 as Machado headed to the pits with mechanical issues. Studebaker stretched his lead to a straightaway advantage over While at the checkered flag as Bryant finished third ahead of McCoy, Randy Miramontez, Zwicker and Machado. While was the eight lap heat race winner. 

On August 22nd, the track has the annual Johnny Soares Classic, featuring the Hunt Wingless Sprint Series against the local PitStopUSA.com Wingless Spec Sprints. The McLea's Tire Service IMCA Modifieds will run their Top Dog race and the Santa Rosa Auto Body 600 Micros will round out the show. For further information, go to www.petaluma-speedway.com or check-out put on the speedway on Facebook.

Hogge Wins Opening Round Of IMCA Modified Speedweek 
At Placerville Speedway

Placerville, CA...August 10...Bobby Hogge IV won the 30 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Monday night at Placerville Speedway. This was the opening round of the six race California IMCA Speedweek, presented by Hoppes Motorsports. Hogge led much of the race, but he received serious challenges from Shane DeVolder and Danny Wagner. The win paid Hogge $1,000.

Hogge shared the front row with Wagner and raced into the lead on the opening lap. Zane DeVilbiss brought out a yellow flag after one lap. The restart attempt was botched when Randy Shafer and Cody Burke tangled on the back straightaway. Hogge led Wagner and DeVolder on the restart. Nick DeCarlo made it a close four-car race at the front of the pack. Wagner moved in to challenge Hogge and there was contact in Turn 2 on Lap 6 with Wagner grabbing the lead. A high move in Turn 2 of the seventh lap regained Hogge the lead, and DeVolder went low in Turn 4 of the same lap to take second from Wagner. DeCarlo followed DeVolder closely and got around him on Lap 8 to grab second before a yellow flag flew for debris on the track. Hogge led DeCarlo and DeVolder on the restart as Robby Sawyer maneuvered into fourth. A Lap 13 yellow flag waved for Troy Foulger in Turn 3 as his race ended with mechanical issues. 

Hogge continued to lead the restart as DeVolder went around DeCarlo on the outside to grab second. DeVolder ran closely with Hogge and made an inside pass in Turn 1 on Lap 21 to take the lead. However, DeVolder jumped the cushion in the same turn a lap later as Hogge went by on the inside to regain first. DeCarlo also maneuvered into the second position. Hogge pulled away a little bit in the closing laps for the impressive victory. DeCarlo was a strong second, followed by DeVolder, Sawyer, Paul Stone, Jim Pettit II, Jake Pike, Tom Smith, Billy Wilker and Jeffrey Faulkner.

The IMCA Modifieds had 51 competitors, and this made things challenging. They ran six 10 lap heat races in which only the Top 2 drivers would transfer. Past Watsonville champion Cody Burke led the first heat race at the start ahead of Bakersfield star Ryan Daves. Following a Lap 5 yellow flag, Burke led just one more lap before eventual winner Daves and Tom Smith got by for the Top 2 spots. Zane DeVilbiss also got by for the third place finish as Burke settled for fourth. The next heat race saw Josh Combs lead Paul Guglielmoni early. Following a Lap 5 yellow flag, Brian Cass moved into the lead ahead of Combs. There was contact between Bakersfield champion Robby Sawyer and Combs exiting Turn 2 on Lap 7 with Sawyer gaining the second position. Cass went on to win ahead of Sawyer, Alyssa Smith and Guglielmoni. 

The third heat race saw 2018 Merced champion Darrell Hughes II leading reigning Antioch champion Buddy Kniss early in the race. Kniss had problems and brought out a Lap 2 yellow flag. Hughes continued to lead with Susanville Promoter Jeff Olschowka moving into second. Following a yellow flag on Lap 3 for a Turn 4 crash, Nevada star Jake Pike grabbed the lead ahead of Antioch star Danny Wagner. They finished in that order with Hughes settling for third ahead of Jake Dewsburuy. The fourth heat saw a big crash eliminate half the field before a lap was completed, and West Coast Stock Hall of Famer Jim Pettit II won the race ahead of Bobby Hogge IV and final finisher Michael Thing. 

Antioch star Kellen Chadwick raced into the lead in Heat 5 at the start and led all the way. Nick DeCarlo won a good battle late in the race with Troy Foulger to finish second as Foulger settled for third ahead of Petaluma racer Tim Yeager. The final heat race saw Shane DeVolder dominate for the win as Randy Shafer outdueled Mike White to finish second. Freddy Plourde III ended up fourth.

The IMCA Modifieds had four 10 lap B Mains that would transfer the Top 2. Zane DeVilbiss led the first two laps of the first race before Troy Foulger went around the outside in Turn 2 the grab the lead. There was a yellow flag on Lap 6 for Jake Dewsburuy in Turn 4. Foulger maintained the lead on the restart despite some heavy pressure from DeVilbiss. They would finish in order with Bobby Motts Jr finishing third ahead of Cottage Grove, Oregon star Jake Mayden and reigning California State champion Trevor Fitzgibbon.

The second B Main saw Mark White lead a lap before a yellow flag flew Austin Grabowski. White had a bad restart as both Alyssa Smith and Derek Nance got by, and Nance actually led the lap. Jeffrey Faulkner moved past Alyssa Smith for second on Lap 5 and made a low pass in Turn 2 of the seventh lap to grab the lead from Nance. Faulkner took a white flag, but when he came by for the checkered flag it was a yellow flag for a Mark White and Alyssa Smith tangle in Turn 3. Faulkner easily led the last lap to the win with Billy Wilker making a last-lap move around Nance for second. Nance ended up third ahead of Dakota Schweitzer and John Pierce. 

After a restart, the third B Main went without a yellow flag. Cody Burke jumped into the lead ahead of Darrell Hughes II, and these two drivers ran closely throughout the entire race. Hughes made a low pass in Turn 4 to beat Burke back to the white flag, and he led the last lap for the victory. Burke still made the show with Tim Yeager, Justin Yeager and Jeff Olschowka completing the Top 5.

The final B Main saw Perris racer Michael Thing lead the first three laps with past Merced and Hanford champion Paul Stone in close pursuit. Following a yellow flag for Freddie Plourde III in Turn 2 of the third lap, Stone made a strong outside move around Thing to grab the lead on the restart. Stone led the rest of the way for the win with Thing also making it into the feature race. Chris Sieweke ended up third, followed by Paul Guglielmoni and Jeff Brown.

Jernagan Wins IMCA Sport Modified Speedweek Opener 
At Placerville Speedway

Placerville, CA...August 10...Garrett Jernagan won the 25 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event Monday night at Placerville Speedway. This was the opening round of the California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports. The win paid $750 to Jernagan in part thanks to sponsorship from Ken's Body Shop. Flo Racing is streaming the entire series on internet pay-per-view, and they helped sponsor additional purse money for the Main Event. Jernagan started back in the fourth row and methodically worked his way to the front of the pack.

Bakersfield racer Jason Bannister charged into lead at the start ahead of 2017 Antioch champion KC Keller and Brent Curran. They ran the first 18 laps without any incidents, but Bannister caught slower traffic by Lap 11. Keller closed in on him to make it a good race up front. In the meantime, Jernagan moved around Brian Cooper for fourth on Lap 11 and took third from Curran on Lap 13. A red flag flew after 18 laps when Aaron Farrell rolled on the backstretch. He was okay. Bannister led the restart with Jernagan making a Turn 4 pass on Keller to take over second. An outside pass on the frontstretch on Lap 19 put Jernagan into the lead. Bannister hung with Jernagan for the final laps, but it was Jernagan prevailing at the checkered flag. Keller was a solid third, followed by Cooper, Andrew Peckham, Matt Micheli, Fred Ryland, Curran, Andrew Pearce and Todd Gomez.

The IMCA Sport Modifieds had 35 entries for the show, and this meant they would run four 10 lap qualifying heat races to transfer four into the feature race. The first heat race saw Antioch star Brent Curran get the lead early on and lead the rest of the way with Andrew Peckham a race long second. KC Keller and State point leader Timothy Allerdings completed the Top 4. Bakersfield racer Jason Bannister won the second heat race. Bannister also jumped into an early lead ahead of Antioch racer Todd Gomez, but a Lap 3 yellow flag flew for Nick Caughman Jr. Gomez headed for the pits, and Bannister led Tyler Thomas on the restart. They crossed in order, but Thomas was later disqualified, giving Joe Salvi second ahead of Kenny Neu and Scott Foster. 

The third heat race saw race winner Tanner Thomas jump into lead at the start ahead of Watsonville racer Doug Hagio. Reigning Merced champion Fred Ryland moved into battle Hagio for second and made a last-lap pass to grab the position as Hagio finished third ahead of final transfer Andrew Pearce. Garrett Jernagan won the fourth and final 10 lap heat. Jernagan raced into the lead at the start. Marysville star Brian Cooper settled into second on a Lap 3 restart, but he had a battle on his hands with Antioch racer Kenny Shrader. Shrader made a last last lap pass on Cooper to finish second as Jernagan won. Cooper settled for third ahead of Aaron Farrell. 

Timothy Allerdings had the front row for the first 10 lap B Main, which would transfer just two drivers into the feature race. He led all the way with Arizona racer Kyler Reynolds a race long second. Reigning Yreka champion Ethan Killingsworth ended up third ahead of reigning Watsonville champion Jarrod Mounce and 2018 Yreka champion Trevor Tiffee. The race had two yellow flags and ran relatively smoothly.

Merced star Chuck Weir raced into the lead at the start of the second 10 lap B Main. Trying to take second from Todd Gomez, Corey Hemphill spun in Turn 2 for the only yellow flag on Lap 6. Gomez tried to challenge Weir on the restart, but the best he could do was follow the leader to the checkered flag and the transfer into the feature race. Nick Caughman Jr finished third, followed by Tyler Thomas and brother Chase Thomas.

Hogge Wins $1,000 Prize In Limited Late Model Race At Placerville Speedway

Placerville, CA...August 10...Bobby Hogge IV won the 20 lap Limited Late Model Main Event Monday night at Placerville Speedway. The Limited Late Models were part of the California IMCA Speedweek event, and this special race paid $1,000 to win. Hogge was piloting the car owned by Paul Guglielmoni as he was also competing in the IMCA Modifieds, and he also won that Main Event

Reigning Marysville and Chico champion Matt Micheli raced into the early lead ahead of Jay Norton and Hogge. The lead three cars ran very closely during the first 10 laps. An outside pass on the backstretch of the seventh lap gained Hogge second from Norton, but Norton stayed with the inside and made a pass in Turn 4 to retake second on Lap 8. A lap later, Norton was able to get around and Micheli for the lead as the lead four cars, which included a Ryan McDaniel, ran very closely. Hogge made an inside pass on the backstretch on lap 10 to take second from Micheli, and Paul Guglielmoni spun in Turn 2 for a yellow flag. McDaniel retired from the race with mechanical issues. Following a botched restart when Wayne Trimble stalled in Turn 1, Norton led Hogge and Micheli on the restart. An outside pass on the backstretch of the 12th lap put Hogge into the lead. There were three yellow flags during the final nine laps, but Hogge maintained command on each restart with Norton second and Micheli third the rest of the way.  Reigning champion Ray Trimble finished fourth with Matt Davis making a late charge to end up fifth. Rod Oliver, Guglielmoni, Tom Tilford, Wayne Trimble and Tyler Lightfoot completed the Top 10 at the checkered flag. Brown and McDaniel won their respective eight lap heat races.

Saturday's show has been cancelled, and they intend to run a race on August 29th. For further scheduling information and other news, go to www.placervillespeedway.com or check out the Placerville Speedway Facebook page.



Bakersfield Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 15, 2020
California IMCA Speedweek, Presented by Hoppes Motorsports
IMCA Modifieds
A Main
Shane DeVolder
Bobby Hogge IV
Ryan Daves
Jim Pettit II
Jerry Flippo
Cody Burke
Alyssa Smith
Kellen Chadwick
Clint Reichenbach
Troy Foulger
Ethan Dotson
Tom Smith
Gary Dutton
Trevor Fitz
Troy Morris III
Kyle Heckman
Gavyn Manning
Jake Mayden
Tim Yaeger
Paul Stone

B Main 1
Jerry Flippo
Troy Foulger
Brad Pounds
Buddy Kniss
Justin Yaeger
Mike Stanford
Jake Dewsbury
Vinny Raucci Jr
Dakota Schweitzer
Michael Scruggs
Jeff Browne

B Main 2
Cody Burke
Kellen Chadwick
Danny Wagner
Bryan Clark
Christopher Sieweke
Terry Hershberger
Steve Noland
Robby Sawyer
Michael Thing
JD Wilson DNS

B Main 3
Jim Pettit II
Troy Morris III
Justin Dunn
Derek Nance
John Pierce
Braydon Gladd
Mark Gaylord
Darrell Hughes II
Collen Winebarger
Andy Obertello

B Main 4
Kyle Heckman
Paul Stone
Nick DeCarlo
Roger Holder
Blake Thornell
Jake Pike
Anthony Slaney
Freddie Plourde
Mike White
Tim LaBrake DNS

IMCA Sport Modifieds
Garrett Jernagan
Brent Curran
Jason Bannister
Brock Crawford
Tanner Thomas
Dylan Potter
James Cecil
Jon McKinley
Matt Mayo
Chase Thomas
Nathan Rolfe
Chuck Weir
Brandon Jennings
Jarrod Mounce
Austin Manzella
Nick Spainhoward
Todd Gomez
Brylon Holder
Markus Frazier
Brian Baker

B Main
Brock Crawford
Markus Frazier
Tanner Thomas
Matt Mayo
Matthew Mayo
Tyler Thomas
Haley Gomez
Jim Reed
Ethan Killingsworth
Ryan DeForest
Daniel West
Trevor Tiffee
Paul Harris
Cale Kanke

Mini Stocks
Clinton Massey
David Wolford
Gene Glover
Clint Duncan
Jeff Durant
Steve Porter
Brandon Wolford
RJ Smotherman
Tommy Provence
Andy Boydstun
David Wolford Jr DNS
Liam Meyers DNS


Keller Auto Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 14, 2020
California IMCA Speedweek, Presnted by Hoppes Motorsports
IMCA Modified
A Main
Kyle Heckman
Bobby Hogge II
Paul Stone
Alex Stanford
Brian Cass
Jake Pike
Collen Winebarger
Cody Burke
Jerry Flippo
Robby Sawyer
Brad Pounds
Bryan Clark
Danny Wagner
Clint Reichenbach
Steve Noland
Troy Morris III
Andy Obertello
Buddy Kniss
Kellen Chadwick
  
B Main 1
Andy Obertello
Brad Pounds
Michael Thing
Derek Nance
Tom Smith
Vinny Raucci Jr
Bill Wilker
Jeff Thomas
Trevor Fitz
Christopher Sieweke
Gary Dutton
Tim Yaeger
Rob Sanders

B Main 2
Paul Stone
Collen Winebarger
Gavyn Manning
Nick DeCarlo
Mark Gaylord
Ryan Porter
Alyssa Smith
Chester Kniss
Jeff Browne
Jake Dewsbury
Justin Dunn
Robby Jeppsen
Dakota Schweitzer

B Main 3
Jerry Flippo
Steve Noland
Michael Scruggs
Anthony Slaney
Danny Roe
Harley Turner
Ricky Childress Jr
Shane DeVolder
Ethan Dotson
Danny Lauer
Tim LaBrake
Terry Hershberger
Dale Sauter

B Main 4
Alex Stanford
Robby Sawyer
Darrell Hughes II
Mike White
Ryan Daves
Jake Mayden
Freddie Plourde
John Pierce
Justin Yaeger
Chris Birdsong
Braydon Gladd
Justin Hart
Roger Holder

IMCA Sport Modifeds
A Main
Brent Curran
Nick Spainhoward
Doug Hagio
Todd Gomez
Ethan Killingsworth
Matt Mayo
Jason Bannister
Tanner Thomas
Jarrod Mounce
Brock Crawford
Tyler Thomas
Haley Gomez
Ryan DeForest
Justin Gonzalez
Nathan Rolfe
Trevor Tiffee
Dave Pearson
Dylan Potter
Garrett Jernagan
Aaron Farrell

B Main
Matt Mayo
Garrett Jernagan
Doug Hagio
Tanner Thomas
Kelly Wilkinson
Cale Kanke
Austin Manzella
Brian Baker
Chuck Weir
Sheyne Bradley
Orion Messina
Cory Hemphill
Kyler Reynolds
Jim Reed
Vaughn Vondera

CVMS Mini Stocks
Clinton Massey
Ryan Doglione
Jason Cook
Jeff Durant
Gene Glover
Michael Hutchinson
Ethan Griffioen
Jason Cook
Hailey Marvin
Dan Myrick
Greg Baronian
Shawn DePriest
Mike Hancho
Shawn Schwartzenberger
Billy Beckham

Merced Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 13, 2020
California IMCA Speedweek, Presented by Hoppes Motorsports
IMCA Modified
A Main
Robby Sawyer
Bobby Hogge IV
Troy Foulger
Shane DeVolder
Justin Dunn
Collen Winebarger
Jerry Flippo
Jake Pike
Kellen Chadwick
Jim Pettit II
Danny Wagner
Bryan Clark
Trevor Fitz
Troy Morris III
Mike White
Gavyn Manning
Danny Lauer
Nick DeCarlo
Austin Kiefer
Paul Stone

B Main 1
Jake Pike
Austin Kiefer
Roger Holder
Dakota Schweitzer
Alyssa Smith
Danny Roe
Ryan Porter
Derek Nance
Anthony Slaney
Terry Hershberger
Mark Gaylord

B Main 2
Danny Lauer
Mike White
Tom Smith
Christopher Sieweke
Freddie Plourde
Ricky Thatcher
Tim LaBrake
Justin Hart
Jake Dewsbury
Darrell Hughes II

B Main 3
Bryan Clark
Danny Wagner
Cody Burke
Robby Jeppsen
Brian Cass
Bill Wilker
Jake Mayden
Vinny Raucci Jr
John Pierce
Chris Birdsong

B Main 4
Jim Pettit II
Trevor Fitz
Ryan Daves
Michael Thing
Buddy Kniss
Tim Yaeger
Jeff Browne
Justin Yaeger
Dale Sauter
Ethan Dotson

IMCA Sport Modifieds
A Main
Garrett Jernagan
Cory Hemphill
Chuck Weir
Fred Ryland
Nick Spainhoward
Nathan Rolfe
Brent Curran
Timothy Allerdings
Doug Hagio
Tanner Thomas
Jarrod Mounce
Markus Frazier
Jason Bannister
Tyler Thomas
Sheyne Bradley
Andrew Pearce
Dave Pearson
Aaron Farrell
Ethan Killingsworth
Justin Gonzalez

B Main 1
Sheyne Bradley
Tyler Thomas
Kaylin Lopez
Joe Salvi
Todd Gomez
Kodie Dean
Kyler Reynolds
Cody Parker
Sean Vega
Jeremy Hoff DQ

B Main 2
Andrew Pearce
Justin Gonzalez
Cale Kanke
Haley Gomez
Crystal Hemphill
Vaughn Vondera
Trevor Tiffee
Richard Ragsdale
Ryan DeForest
Frank Cefaliello Jr

IMCA Stock Cars
Cody Johnson
Chad Johnson
Jeff Streeter
Troy Patee
Kris Broucaret
Garrett Corn
Josh Nichols
Tim Elias
Renn Bane
Bruce Nelson
Nicholas Johnson
Chris Bennett
Darren Wilson
Brock Hamilton
Larry Thompson
Rod Bane

Antioch Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 12, 2028
California IMCA Speedweek, Presented by Hoppes Motorsports
IMCA Modifieds
A Main
Nick DeCarlo
Bobby Hogge IV
Robby Sawyer
Danny Wagner
Troy Foulger
Jerry Flippo
Jake Pike
Ryan Daves
Cody Burke
Tom Smith
Aaron Crowell
Brian Cass
Kellen Chadwick
Shane DeVolder
Paul Stone
Jim Pettit II
Trevor Fitz
Bobby Motts Jr
Mike White
Zane DeVilbiss

B Main 1
Tom Smith
Paul Stone
Gavyn Manning
Jake Mayden
Paul Guglielmoni
Derek Nance
John Pierce
Dale Sauter
Tim Yaeger DNS
Justin Yaeger DNS

B Main 2
Jake Pike
Jim Pettit II
Terry Hershberger
Troy Morris III
Clark Guglielmoni
Freddie Plourde
Mark Gaylord
Jeff Browne
Bill Wilker

B Main 3
Trevor Fitz
Cody Burke
Randy Shafer
Dakota Schweitzer
Christopher Sieweke
Buddy Kniss
Jeff Thomas
Justin Dunn
Alyssa Smith

B Main 4
Aaron Crowell
Troy Foulger
Anthony Slaney
Michael Thing
Ray Trimble
Jake Dewsbury
Vinny Raucci Jr
JC Elrod
Tim LaBrake

IMCA Sport Modifieds
A Main
Garrett Jernagan
Guy Ahlwardt
Fred Ryland
Brent Curran
Andrew Peckham
Chase Thomas
Todd Gomez
Kenny Shrader
Trevor Clymens
Doug Hagio
Tanner Thomas
Andrew Pearce
Mark Garner
Ethan Killingsworth
Jacob Haas
Trevor Tiffee
Sheyne Bradley
Nick Spainhoward
Tom Fraser
Kenny Neu

B Main 1
Tanner Thomas
Jacob Haas
KC Keller
Jason Bannister
Tommy Clymens
Aaron Farrell
Tim Rolan
Tyler Browne
Crystal Hemphill
Ryan DeForest
Frank Cefaliello Jr
Kyler Reynolds

B Main 2
Kenny Shrader
Nick Spainhoward
Cory Hemphill
Jarrod Mounce
Haley Gomez
Tyler Thomas
Scott Foster
Nick Caughman
Joe Salvi
Vaughn Vondera
Kelly Campanile

Petaluma Speedway Unofficial Race Results
California IMCA Speedweek, Presented By Hoppes Motorsports
IMCA Modified
A Main
Troy Foulger
Paul Stone
Bobby Hogge IV
Zane DeVilbiss
Paul Guglielmoni
Robby Sawyer
Kellen Chadwick
Jerry Flippo
Ryan Daves
Brian Cass
Bobby Motts
Jake Pike
Christopher Sieweke
Trevor Fitz
Jeffrey Faulkner
Tim Yaeger
Vinny Raucci Jr
Cody Burke
Bill Wilker
Nick DeCarlo DNS

B Main
Paul Guglielmoni
Ryan Daves
Michael Paul Jr
Jeff Thomas
Derek Nance
Jake Mayden
Alyssa Smith
Mike White
Ray Trimble
Austin Grabowski DNS

B Main 2
Jeffrey Faulkner
Kellen Chadwick
Freddie Plourde
John Pierce
Anthony Slaney
Jim Pettit II
Gavyn Manning
Trevor Brady
Terry Hershberger
Dakota Schweitzer

B Main 3
Bobby Motts Jr
Christopher Sieweke
Danny Wagner
Michael Thing
Troy Morris III
Jim Weiler
Michelle Paul
Tim LaBrake
Jerry Roy Jr DNS

B Main 4
Robby Sawyer
Paul Stone
Justin Dunn
Mark Gaylord
Tom Smith
Randy Shafer
Justin Yaeger
Jake Dewsbury
Dale Sauter DNS

IMCA Sport Modifieds
A Main
Garrett Jernagan
Fred Ryland
KC Keller
Jason Bannister
Todd Gomez
Brent Curran
Jarrod Mounce
Matt Micheli
Tanner Thomas
Trevor Tiffee
Chase Thomas
Ryan DeForest
Tyler Thomas
Kenny Shrader
Kelly Campanile
Vaughn Vondera
Doug Hagio
Kyler Reynolds
Kenny Neu
Cory Hemphill

B Main
Ryan DeForest
Vaughn Vondera
Kyler Reynolds
Trevor Tiffee
Crystal Hemphill
Nick Caughman
Sheyne Bradley
Aaron Farrell
Scott Foster
Ryan Graham DNS
Devin Vaughan DNS
Chuck Weir DNS
Ethan Killingsworth DQ

Lumberjacks Restaurant Super Stocks
Shawn McCoy
Jay Bryant
Justin Zwicker
Steve Studebaker
Mitch Machado
Matthew While
Randy Miramontez 

Placerville Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 10, 2020
California IMCA Speedway, Presented by Hoppes Motorsports
IMCA Modifieds
A Main
Results are not official
1     #2H Bobby Hogge IV
2     #17 Nick DeCarlo
3     #44S Shane DeVolder
4     #198 Robby Sawyer
5     #66P Paul Stone
6     #6 Jim Pettit II
7     #223 Jake Pike
8     #31T Tom Smith
9     #71 Bill Wilker
10     #34J Jeffrey Faulkner
11     #38T Michael Thing
12     #222 Ryan Daves
13     #28G Randy Shafer
14     #83 Kellen Chadwick        
15     #55 Brian Cass
16     #49 Troy Foulger        
17     #11D Danny Wagner
18     #20 Cody Burke
19     #28H Darrell Hughes II       
20     #18Z Zane DeVilbiss

B Main #1
Results are not official
1     #49 Troy Foulger        
2     #18Z Zane DeVilbiss
3     #U81 Bobby Motts Jr
4     #5M Jake Maden
5     #28 Trevor Fitz    
6     #07X Troy Morris III        
7     #2JD Jake Dewsbery    
8     #28K Chester Kniss    
9     #32R Dale Sauter
10     #51G Gavyn Manning

B Main #2
Results are not official
1     #34J Jeffrey Faulkner    
2     #71 Bill Wilker
3     #5N Derek Nance
4     #14 Dakota Schweitzer
5     #80 John Pierce
6     #31A Alyssa Smith    
7     #27 Mark White
8     #72 Austin Grabowski        
9     #ONE2 Josh Combs
10     #70 Terry Hershberger

B Main #3
Results are not official
1     #28H Darrell Hughes II
2     #20 Cody Burke
3     #17Y Tim Yaeger
4     #2Y Justin Yaeger
5     #121 Jeff Olschowka        
6     #07 Jeff Thomas
7     #47X Tim LaBrake    
8     #34J Jeffrey Faulkner
9     #911 Vinny Raucci Jr
10     #37 Ray Trimble

B Main #4
Results are not official
1     #66P Paul Stone        
2     #38T Michael Thing
3     #13 Jerry Flippo
4     #74 Chris Sieweke
5     #22G Paul Gugliemoni
6     #228 Jeff Brown
7     #89 Freddie Plourde    
8     #4X Anthony Slaney    
9     #14J Justin Dunn

IMCA Sport Modifieds
A Main
Results are not official
1     #4 Garrett Jernagan    
2     #51 Jason Bannister
3     #38 KC Keller
4     #17C Brian Cooper
5     #75 Andrew Peckham
6     #96M Matt Micheli
7     #7J Fred Ryland
8     #132 Brent Curran
9     #15P Andrew Pearce
10     #38A Todd Gomez
11     #51W Chuck Weir
12     #188 Kenny Shrader
13     #22T Tanner Thomas
14     #27 Timothy Allerdings
15     #30S Doug Hagio
16     #82 Joe Salvi
17     #22S Scott Foster
18     #99 Kenny Neu        
19     #7-7 Aaron Farrell            
20     #00 Kyler Reynolds

B Main #1
Results are not official
1     #27 Timothy Allerdings
2     #00 Kyler Reynolds
3     #7 Ethan Killingworth
4     #05 Jarrod Mounce
5     #19 Trevor Tiffee
6     #51V Vaughn Vondera
7     #56B Sheyne Bradley
8     #57C Bryce Campbell
9     #28 Ryan Grahm
10     #77S Craig Swim        
11     #51W Chuck Weir
12     #1K Crystal Hemphill
13     #198K Cory Hemphill
14     #38A Todd Gomez
15     #21T Chase Thomas

B Main #2
Results are not official
1     #51W Chuck Weir    
2     #38A Todd Gomez
3     #32 Nick Caughman
4     #21T Chase Thomas
5     #20T Tyler Thomas
6     #198K Cory Hemphill            
7     #1K Crystal Hemphill        
8     #72R Ryan DeForest        
9     #5 Jeremy Hoff

Limited Late Models
Results are not official
1     #22G Bobby Hogge IV       
2     #15J Jay Norton
3     #96M Matt Micheli
4     #37 Ray Trimble
5     #29 Matt Davis
6     #57 Rod Oliver
7     #28G Paul Guglielmoni
8     #23T Tom Tilford
9     #71 Wayne Trimble
10     #23JR Tyler Lightfoot
11     #23 Dan Jinkerson
12     #3 Eddie Gardner
13     #55 Richard Vander Ploeg
14     #15 Dan Brown Jr            
15     #22H Troy Foulger    
16     #1 Ryan McDaniel 

The Editor's Speedweek Viewpoint

Placerville Speedway

No sooner had we wrapped up our Monday blog post than it was time to get the California IMCA Speedweek Series started. With Hoppes Motorsports coming on board to sponsor some purse money for the IMCA Modifieds and Flo Racing doing the same for the IMCA Sport Modifieds, not to mention several other good sponsors, it was time to see who was going to win some of that money and claim the glory. The big question would be how many drivers were going to show up for this race.

There were 51 IMCA Modifieds at Placerville Speedway on Monday. This might have actually exceeded expectations. We knew as of last week that 39 drivers had signed up to race. What's interesting to know is that Placerville does not have their own regular division. So all of the drivers who showed up to run with the Modifieds and the Sport Modifieds were traveling to do so. There were also 35 IMCA Sport Modifieds. When you've got two divisions running with this many cars for the week-long series, you really don't need a support division. However, every track will have one. 

This isn't to knock the Limited Late Model show. There were 16 drivers for this race, and they put on a good battle for $1,000 to win. You had some top caliber competitors in this field, including Matt Micheli, Troy Foulger, Ryan McDaniel and Bobby Hogge IV. Bobby was driving the Paul Guglielmoni car, which he will do on occasion. Since he was coming to Placerville to run with the IMCA Modifieds, this was a good time to do some Stock Car racing as well. Hogge did battle with Micheli and Jay Norton before picking up the victory. He seemed to be driving it pretty well on the outside, and perhaps he learned a few things that he could apply towards the IMCA Modified Main Event later in the evening. I would not knock this division, but I do think that the Speedweek Series itself could probably run with just these two divisions in future years.

It's very high pressure in the IMCA Modified division in particular. With the IMCA Sport Modifieds, the drivers drew for their positions in the four qualifying heat races. They had 10 laps to earn four positions, which is your regular show basically. Where it gets challenging is when you have six heat races as the IMCA Modifieds did. Suddenly, you've got eight or nine drivers lining up in these heat races to battle for two transfer positions, and things get messy. There were a few good tangles in those IMCA Modified heats. 

This is where I will go back to the idea that you don't need a third division for this show. It's all about Modifieds and Sport Modifieds. The IMCA Wild West Speedweek Series does something interesting. The drivers draw for their heat race lineups, but they get two sets of heat races. The lineup for the first set of heat races is inverted for the second set of heat races, and then you do passing points. This system ensures that one bad draw and one bad break in the heat race doesn't end your night. Due to the volume of cars and all of that, I'm not knocking them for running the regular one set of heat races and then having their B Mains. The important thing is that this series got started.

Another thing that IMCA has created in recent years is the elimination of running the alphabet. You're not having a D Main, a C Main and a B Main. What they did for the Modifieds was ran four B Mains that would transfer the Top 2 finishers. After taking 12 drivers from the heat races, this meant that 38 drivers would be competing for the final 8 transfers with two spots available in each of the B Mains. It's a little bit more manageable. Rather than somebody being stuck in the D Main, now they're in a B Main with everybody else and have the same shot at getting a Top 2 position. The Sport Modifieds ran two B Mains with two positions available out of each of them.

Monday night sets the tempo for this deal. You want to not have a complete disaster that leaves you playing catch up. Both Main Events turned out to be very entertaining from start to finish, but they had different looks to them. The IMCA Sport Modifieds ran 18 green flag laps, and that meant you had leaders working slower traffic before the one slow down happened. This is when Aaron Farrell rolled his car on the back straightaway. At the time, Jason Bannister was battling KC Keller with Garrett Jernagan closing in fast. The yellow flag allowed Jernagan to make his move around both of them and take the lead. He had a heck of a run. If you got a Top 10 finish out of either of these races, you had a good start. Hard chargers like Andrew Peckham, Fred Ryland, Brian Cooper and Brent Curran can hold their heads up high. There's still five races left to go, and the important thing was not doing too much damage to your car that needed repairing going into Petaluma.

Bobby Hogge IV continues to show that he is perhaps the top IMCA Modified driver on the West Coast. He's that good. Danny Wagner certainly has a fast race car, and he wasn't afraid to rub wheels with Hogge. It got a little close in their battle, and there was contact as Wagner took the lead. Hogge didn't appear to be too thrilled by that, and he let him know going down the back straightaway. He ended up regaining the lead a lap later. Shane DeVolder has potential to be a big star in the years ahead. This young gun gave Hogge a good challenge, but he couldn't make it stick. He pushed off the groove after taking the lead from Hogge, and that's all Bobby needed to get back in front.

I don't know if Bobby ever headed up to the Pacific Northwest to run the Speedweek Series there, but he certainly went up north and won some of the big races. It will be interesting to watch the Hogge team take on this challenge for a week. There are some really good drivers in this IMCA Modified field, but Hogge has already gotten off to a good start with a win. Getting a Top 10 finish will certainly help your cause as there is still a lot of racing left to go. Drivers like DeVolder, Nick DeCarlo, the always exciting Robby Sawyer and Jim Pettit II had to consider getting out of the night with a Top 10 finish a win.

Scott Russell did his best to give the drivers a good track. It was a little bit muddy in hot laps, but things started to come together. There were a few rough spots, but the drivers did a heck of a job of negotiating the track. At various times, Russell came out there to do a little bit of work. The show didn't really drag on, and all of the laps were completed in all of the races. All in all, it was a good start at Placerville, and everybody moves ahead to the race at Petaluma. Petaluma has a bigger and faster race track, so other drivers might rise to the top at that venue. 

That's one of the nice things about Speedweek. You have six different racing surfaces, and all of these tracks are going to be a little bit different. Some may hold moisture better than others. Some may go drier. You're going to have drivers who favor the dry track and rise to the top on those occasions. It's all about getting your finishes in a series like this. You don't necessarily have to win every race to end up winning the championship, but you do have to finish well and keep your car in one piece. 

I think series director Doug Lockwood and Placerville Promoter Scott Russell had to be pleased overall with the way this show went. The IMCA Modified support was stronger than we thought it would be, and the Sport Modifieds performed well. This is the get established race for the series, and this is the get established year to build on for the future. Big things can happen here. Certainly, at a time when we're looking for a little bit of good news given the pandemic we're going through, this series helps a little bit. 

I don't have a desire to be critical here, but I do wish a series announcer could have been brought in for this one. Selfishly, I'd love to see Chet come from back east as he did for the Wild West Speedweek, but I understand he's a busy man these days. Not far from where I live is Ben Deatherage, and he's fully capable of handling the duties for a show like this. I still think that having somebody show up at each race who has been following everything can add a little bit to the program. It's not that the commentary was bad for this show necessarily. It was adequate. It's just the idea that a good announcer can add to the program. 

There was a desire to bring in Ben to do this series, but some of the tracks wanted to have their guy up in the booth instead. The regular guy at Placerville is Gary Thomas. He's a Sprint car guy who definitely does his homework. He happened to be back east checking out some of the Sprint Car racing there. Since there's a bit of a lull in the Sprint Car action in Northern California, this was the time to do that, but his absence from the booth was felt. It's only a minor critique on what I feel was a solid night for the series. Can you believe it? California finally has an IMCA Modified and Sport Modified Speedweek. How cool is that?

Petaluma Speedway Notes 

The California IMCA Speedweek Series pulled into Petaluma Speedway on Tuesday, and the IMCA Modifieds still delivered 50 cars for the show. The IMCA Sport Modifieds had a 29 car field. Much like Placerville, Petaluma Speedway does not have their own IMCA Sport Modified division, but a few of the local IMCA Modifieds joined that portion of the show. From an organizational standpoint, the show ran rather smoothly, and there wasn't a lot of delay. I've noticed a little bit of that going on in Petaluma this year, but it didn't happen this time as the show wrapped up at about a quarter after 9. 

Ron Lingron handled the announcing duties as well as he usually does. He's been announcing there for a few years, and I always enjoy the way he delivers the commentary. What I didn't know was that Ron actually is a pretty busy man up in the booth. Not only is he announcing, but they put him in charge of running the MyLaps electronic scoring system. When something has to be updated on the system, he has to quickly go over to that during yellows and return to his commentary duties, but he seemed to be able to handle that pretty well. They're not just relying on the electronic scoring. Lisa Ensign is there doing the traditional line scoring as well.

Once again, the total car count in the IMCA Modifieds meant that you were getting six heat races. Even though they were getting 10 laps to race, they had just two transfer positions to make it into a 20 car Main Event. The bad part about that is when you get a "heat race from hell". This is one of those heat races where several of the top drivers are in one particular heat race, and usually that's countered by a heat race where drivers you wouldn't expect to have a shot to make the show actually do. It's an imperfect system, but this is what you get with qualifying by the heat races and using a one heat race format. 

Everybody draws their pill, so that's what you'll get. The first heat race didn't have the caliber of drivers in it that the second heat race did. You had Nick DeCarlo, Troy Foulger, Jim Pettit II and Kellen Chadwick among the nine drivers in the second heat, and that meant two of them were not making it into the show from that race. 

What I'd like to see with Speedweek next year is just going to an IMCA Modified and IMCA Sport Modified format without a third division. I'd also like to see the IMCA Modifieds run two sets of heat races and do passing points and point totals to determine who goes into the show. When you're running two heat races, you've got a better chance of the faster competitors making it into the show, and it helps improve the quality of the Main Event. This is what I've witnessed in Oregon with the Speedweek there, and it's also been a format used for the R Charles Snyder Salute. It works.

I don't know if Super Dave came out from Iowa, and the reason I wonder is because I've been noticing disqualifications taking place in the preliminary action. A few heat race winners at Petaluma and Placerville we're disqualified, and one of them at Petaluma was Kellen Chadwick in that heat race from hell. He had to come in from the B Main, and there's a subplot to this. Troy Foulger would have been in the B Main had that finish stood, but he ended up starting up front in the Main Event. You know what happens when "Tricky" Troy gets a good starting position. The Bowers Motorsports team is not playing around.

This is the thing about IMCA. They've got a rule book that is the same for every track you go to. I've noticed that when the bigger events come up, they tend to enforce those rules a little bit stricter. Then again, rules are rules, and many people will say it's good to see them being enforced. That's why you're paying for the sanctioning body. Ultimately, it makes for a fair and even playing field.  

Not much changed in the procedure for the IMCA Modifieds. The volume of cars meant that they would have four B Mains of 10 laps each that would transfer two drivers each. Because the IMCA Sport Modified car count dropped just a little bit, they still transferred four cars from their four heat races, but the one B Main transferred four as well. Reigning Yreka champion Ethan Killingsworth appeared to get the win, but he was another one who lost out in the tech area as the win in that race ended up going to Ryan DeForest.

The track presented a bit of a challenge for the racers. It was a tacky track, but it was a bit rough in places. I noticed a trend of cars breaking drivelines and needing assistance getting off the track. You hate to see that, but track conditions are the same for everybody. To management's credit, Rick got out there on the grader and attempted to make a few adjustments after the heat races. However, he didn't spend a lot of time on the track. He tended to some of the more troublesome spots, and it seemed like the Main Events went a little bit better as a result.

it was a night where we didn't get the drama we got at Placerville. Not as many exciting moments. The drivers went out there and raced hard and got their finishes, but the wins were not really in doubt. As I mentioned above, Foulger got the front row start in the IMCA Modifieds, and he pretty much dominated the race. A yellow flag wiped out a straightaway lead as he was masterfully working his way through traffic, but he built up another straightaway lead before the checkered flag flew. You know you're doing something when Bobby Hogge IV can't even catch you. It should be noted that past Hanford and Merced champion Paul Stone started back in 20th, and he did a brilliant job of driving all the way to second ahead of Hogge at the finish.

The drivers in the IMCA Sport Modified division should be a little bit nervous. Jason Bannister and Garrett Jernagan come from the Bakersfield area and are familiar with Hanford as well. The series will end at those two tracks, so this is the time for the Bay Area drivers to shine. Unfortunately, it was Jernagan and Bannister running at the front of the pack for much of the race. Jernagan did pretty much what Foulger did. He dominated the IMCA Sport Modifieds for his second-straight win. 

However, Fred Ryland ended up getting around Bannister, as did KC Keller. Antioch area racer Todd Gomez came from 16th to finish fifth. It looks like Jernagan and Bannister are running strong, but keep an eye on Keller and Ryland. We haven't seen Ryland to do much down in Hanford and Bakersfield in his career, but he might have to dig deep if he's going to win the Sport Modified Speedweek. It will be interesting to see what happens.

I'm still very much feeling the Speedweek vibe. We're in a pandemic right now, and this is a lousy situation. However, these IMCA Modified and Sport Modified drivers are delivering the goods. I can just imagine how this thing will be when we get some normalcy. I also wonder how the success of this series will impact the Wild West Speedweek Series, which is on hiatus in Oregon as certain tracks up there still can't open. I don't see the Speedweek Series going away in California, and I can see its success impacting the one in Oregon. I'm not saying that one is going away, but I think we're going to enjoy some California IMCA Speedweek Series action for years to come.

The other thing we heard in Oregon was how drivers were coming from all over the western states to compete. This has actually been the case for the California Speedweek. Not only are drivers coming from all over California, but Oregon, Arizona, Nevada and even New Mexico drivers are here. Think about that. This thing was only organized in about a month's time, and this is the support it's already drawing. Can you imagine how much bigger it can get in the future?

The track in California that is leading the charge for IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modified this year is Antioch Speedway. The configuration of the track has been changed just a little bit, and the IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds have responded nicely to it. I think people are going to enjoy what these drivers do in Antioch on Wednesday. It's great to see these classes showcased on a stage in California worthy of them. The California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports, is very much living up to the hype so far.

Antioch Speedway

The California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports, rolled into Antioch Speedway on Wednesday night, and the car count remained strong. According to the charts heading into the heat races, there were 49 IMCA Modifieds and 39 IMCA Sport Modifieds. This is just a sample of what can be done with these two divisions. I don't want to sound like a broken record, but these are the only two divisions you need for an IMCA Speedweek in the future. There is no need for a third division, unless it happens to be something like the IMCA Stock Cars. But, that division is just getting going. Would there be enough interest in 2021 to add them? I highly doubt it. Give them a few years.

The thing about it is, Doug Lockwood and the promoters involved really just put this deal together in one month's time. That's all the time there was to rally support and get drivers to sign up. We're also in a pandemic where some tracks can't even open and most tracks can't have fans. The series was announced on the morning of the 4th of July, and the numbers we're looking at are phenomenal when you take all of that into consideration. Can you imagine what the numbers would be like with the IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modifieds if we could hype this deal up several months ahead of time?

I don't want to sound like a broken record here, because my criticisms are minor. I'm really impressed with this thing. I feel bad even pointing it out, but I'm not enamored with these "heat race from hell" situations in the one heat race format. It's one of the reasons why I wouldn't mind eliminating a division and just running these two classes. It's called IMCA Speedweek for a reason after all, right? If you could do two heat races for at least the IMCA Modifieds, you can give drivers an opportunity to really perform their way into the Main Event. The heat race from hell really hinders things a little bit.

In this case, we had the fourth heat race. Farmington, New Mexico driver Zane DeVilbiss turned in a solid performance in winning that 10 lap event. Kellen Chadwick managed to make his way out of there, but Jim Pettit II and Troy Foulger were both B Main bound. The two made it out of those races, but that's not the point. I think the two heat race format is tried-and-true. They perfected that in the IMCA Wild West Speedweek Series in Oregon, and it's worked well for the R Charles Snyder Salute at Southern Oregon Speedway.

You draw for your heat races coming through the gate. Whatever the lineup is for the first set of heats, you reverse it for the second set. This gives every racer a fair opportunity at passing points as well, and the top drivers tend to make their way out of the heats. You could do that for the IMCA Modifieds next year. It doesn't necessarily have to be the same for the Sport Modifieds, but it could be. Start a little bit earlier if you must, but this could make the show that much more competitive. It's a thought anyways.

The thing to remember is that you're always going to have somebody complaining about something. Even if you changed it this way, drivers might not like it because something kept them from making the show. California has never really seen the likes of this series, not for the IMCA Modifieds. Yeah, the NARC Sprint Cars did this back in the 1990's, but the Modifieds are doing it now. It's about time. I really believe that this series has an opportunity to get even bigger in 2021. For one thing, Doug will have more time to work on sponsorship, adjust the schedule and decide if any tracks need to be added. There's more time to figure it out and more time for drivers to get on board.

The track itself wasn't looking too bad. It showed signs of going dry, slick and dusty, particularly in turns 3 and 4. We didn't see any of the dust until about the time we got the Main Events on the track, and the racing was still good all the way around. The track crew struggled with that racing surface earlier in the year, but they've got it dialed in. They know what it is they need to do to keep it good, and they were taking moments during the night to fix it up. I don't think the racers were complaining, because they had two grooves and the surface was smooth. Kudos to the Antioch Speedway crew.

One of the things that is being done to keep the show moving is the one and done rule. If you spin or bring out a yellow flag in the heat races or the B Mains, you're done. It could also be a situation where you might have caused that person to spin. That person is parked on the track, but you're the one who gets the penalty for causing it. We had a situation in a B Main with the Sport Modifieds in which two of the top point runners, KC Keller and Jason Bannister, crashed in Turn 4. I'm not sure what the official ruling was as it wasn't communicated in the broadcast. I was thinking both drivers were done, but they both continued. I found it interesting, but maybe there was an explanation. It seemed like it happened a couple of times, so I was sort of assuming that maybe the rule got changed to allow two yellow flags in B Mains.

One of the things that helped the broadcast on Flo Racing was they brought in Ben Deatherage. This is the guy I recommended to announce this entire series. Ben gets called for most of the big races that happen in the state of Oregon, but the pandemic has actually brought him down to California a few times when tracks have needed him. Antioch management seems to like the guy and has used him a few times. Ben does his homework. He's a guy who loves statistics, history, geography and everything. He'll take the time to educate you. When it comes to racing statistics, he's a man after my own heart. I like bringing the same sort of flavor to the show on those occasions when I get the opportunity to announce.

It just makes it better when you're watching a race and you've got somebody up there who's enthusiastic and knows what they're talking about. You've got somebody who is engaged in the program the way Ben is. I wish he would have been able to announce this entire series, but some of the promoters wanted to keep their own guys. I'm sure dollars and cents had something to do with it as maybe Ben came with a higher price tag. I don't know, but that's usually the case with good announcers.

I've seen Wade the announcer at Antioch hustling. He's doing his video updates every week and all of that. I give him credit for stepping up his game a little bit. I don't know where this guy was for the past few years, but he seems to be trying harder these days. I'm guessing he just didn't care enough about the previous management to want to make this sort of effort for them, but who knows? They've got another guy up there with him. He's new, and I didn't catch his name. It looks like they're going for a tandem style of announcing. As the two get familiar with each other, maybe it will work. I don't know. It needs more time. They did all of the Hobby Stock commentary and Wade went down for the Hobby Stock and IMCA Sport Modified post-race interviews.

It all comes down to race time and bringing your A Game. The biggest star of Speedweek so far is IMCA Sport Modified leader Garrett Jernagan. I've seen Garrett run strong at races in Merced, Hanford, Bakersfield and Kern Raceway, but he's taking his game to a whole new level. I'm pretty sure he felt confident about things as far as the series going down to the valley, but the unknown for this driver was how would he do further north. We already saw him get the job done in Placerville and Petaluma, but he was on another level at Antioch.

Jernagan drew a fifth row start for this race, but he rapidly worked his way to the front of the pack. He's running with guys like Fred Ryland, Brent Curran and Guy Ahlwardt, and these racers have won several times in Antioch. Jernagan got around all of them. There might have been a bump between him and reigning track champion Tommy Fraser. I thought I saw something, but they never showed the replay. Garrett acknowledged that something may have happened and said he felt bad about it. After he got the lead from Ahlwardt, nobody was touching him. He's got a perfect score of 120 points, and we've got to start talking about the possibility of him winning this championship.

Ryland is hanging tough. He managed to eke out another podium in third behind Ahlwardt. He'll head to Merced, where he is the two-time reigning champion. We'll see how things go there. Fred is in second place in the standings now, and I sort of tabbed him to be the guy to beat in this series. Since he's nine points back, I don't count him out. He has a tougher time at Hanford and Bakersfield, so we'll see. I'd say he definitely needs a win at Merced, but Jernagan's going to be tough. Brent Curran is hanging tough in this deal as is Todd Gomez. Gomez is the dark horse. He's got it within him, but can he step up and take it?

If you're going to step up and take it in the IMCA Modified ranks, Bobby Hogge IV is the guy you've got to beat. Hogge has been in the mix at every race so far with three-straight podium finishes. Bobby was in the mix at Antioch, where he's won over seventy races in his career. However, he didn't quite have enough for another of the top area stars, Nick DeCarlo. Bobby did close in on him down the stretch, but closing in on a guy and making your move is another matter. He took his second place finish and used it to keep the point lead. Paul Stone got caught up in a crash, leaving second place available. With his third place finish, Bakersfield standout Robby Sawyer moves seven points behind Hogge. 

As we move further south, we go to tracks that Sawyer is more familiar with. He could step it up and make a big challenge. Robby is definitely one of the more aggressive racers in the field. He's going to stand his ground, and he'll definitely let you know he's there. Don't count him out. Starting back in the trunk at Petaluma was Paul Stone, and he finished second. At Antioch, four-time champion and current track point lead Troy Foulger had himself a 20th starting position to deal with. He managed to get to fifth at the checkered flag, and he and Stone are tied for third in the standings, 16 behind Hogge. The win for DeCarlo kept him 17 points out in fifth.

Antioch Speedway definitely impacted the series, but we're still three races away from the conclusion. We saw less than desirable nights for a few of the racers, and a lot of that was just racing deals. I don't think these were track condition problems. As I said above, the track was in good shape, and that meant the drivers had room to really mix it up out there. At the end of the evening, the drivers gather it up and bring it to the next track. For those trying to contend for points, just getting out of the night with a Top 10 finish was definitely a victory.

They head down to Merced Speedway on Thursday. The quarter-mile clay oval is begging for race cars. They've only had the one race since the covid-19 shut down, and that was a heck of a show. As Lockwood has been overseeing the Speedweek events at each track, his crew has been working diligently to prepare the quarter-mile clay oval at the seventy-year-old racing facility. I'm looking forward to Merced. This track has had some really good IMCA Modified races for the past 25 years, and there is no reason to expect any different. I'll just say this, California IMCA Speedweek has delivered the goods so far.

Merced Speedway

California IMCA Speedweek, presented by Hoppes Motorsports, is in full swing now. With half of it in the books, we began the second half run Thursday night at Merced Speedway. The quarter-mile clay oval at the fairgrounds was just begging for some race cars, and it got almost 90 of them between the IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds. There were 53 IMCA Modifieds and 35 IMCA Sport Modifieds, which is the high mark in both classes. To complete the trifecta, there were also 18 IMCA Stock Cars. Is that a record in California? I want to say that it is, but I don't know for sure.

We take a detour from the Modified classes for just a moment and talk about the IMCA Stock Cars. I have said that a third division for Speedweek isn't necessarily needed, and this is a statement I stand by. However, the IMCA Stock Cars intrigue me. For one thing, they have the four letters of the other two divisions. I made an off the cuff comment regarding the possibility of IMCA Stock Cars being included as part of Speedweek in the future. This might sound a little bit far-fetched, and maybe it is.

The thinking is the third division that we're getting for Speedweek at these various tracks isn't delivering a lot of cars anyways. I don't necessarily think it's needed, but what if we added IMCA Stock Cars to it next year? Would there be enough drivers to deliver a couple of heat races and a Main Event at every track? I tend to think there's a possibility that this could happen, because there's one thing we learned from Merced on Thursday night. This division is about ready to explode in California.

It started in the state when Keller Auto Speedway had the class, and it languished at between 6 to 10 cars for a good portion of the run. There were two people down there, Pat Biggs and Dave Bauer, who fielded multiple cars, and this came at a time when people were rallying the class to get better numbers. The next thing you know, IMCA Stock Cars were going to Bakersfield Speedway and making visits to Tulare Thunderbowl. The division had the capability of delivering double-digit car count at that time, but what's happening now is it's about ready to explode. I could go off on a whole thing here, but I want to keep this short. This column is supposed to be more about the two Modified classes, but I feel this point can be made here. 

Merced Speedway General Manager and Speedweek Race Director Doug Lockwood made the call to add the IMCA Stock Cars as the third division a couple of weeks ago, and I liked the call. One of the reasons I liked it was because I have been hearing rumblings about Merced racers wanting to get into the class. There were six of them for the show. Jeff Streeter was one of them, and I think he might have been driving the car that his father Steve Streeter has campaigned down in Hanford and Bakersfield.

I've made the point that several Hobby Stocks have been built in the last couple of years with IMCA rules in mind, and we saw Tim Elias show up with his car. FND Motorsports fielded cars for Michael Shearer and Bruce "Bubba" Nelson. Garrett Corn made his IMCA Stock Car debut, and Cody Brown was there as well. Tim Elias brought his car. Antioch racer Chris Bennett made the trip for the show. There are a few other Hobby Stocks in Merced that probably would have been legal to run this race as well.

I think Doug had reason for wanting to put the IMCA Stock Cars on the card. Before the pandemic shut everything down, he had four races scheduled for this class, which would have meant that Merced Speedway would have crowned a champion. It also would have given the locals an opportunity to make a case for why this division should get more races next year. I think Doug was curious how many drivers would show up, so he had to be pleased that 18 drivers made the trip. How would the racing be? 

I would almost say these cars are a step above Hobby Stocks. I understand the cost factor is a little bit higher, though it's not Late Model high. The cars have a different look for sure, but they look pretty cool going around the track. They just look different than your average Hobby Stock. There was quite the battle going on at the front of the pack in the Main Event, but the Johnson boys took the checkered flag with Cody beating Chad on this occasion. Streeter represented very well in third. You had drivers running low and high, lots of passing and side-by-side racing. It just looked good out there.

There's no doubt about it. IMCA Stock Cars are going to be growing by leaps and bounds in the next few years in the state of California. Merced will be in for sure, and Antioch Speedway has already announced dates. Who knows what other tracks might want to stake a claim on the class. Antioch Speedway has been hinting at including this class at the Bill Bowers Memorial show, which features the IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds on the first weekend of October. They haven't made the announcement yet, but if the promoter was watching this show, he might want to say something now. As for IMCA Stock Cars, could they become part of Speedweek as the official third division for the series? I'm not saying that will happen. I'm just saying if you could even get a turnout along the lines of what happened at Merced on Thursday, it would be worth doing.

The track crew worked all day on this track. Track prep was ongoing leading into the week. It was certainly wet during mud packing, but you'd expect that. At various times during the night, they put water on the track and did a little bit more work, and it just seemed to make the show better. Things kind of started off a little bit slow, but when they hit their rhythm, it was fast-paced for the rest of the night. This race did not drag on. I knew that Merced Speedway would have a good show, and they didn't disappoint.

There's one thing I wish, however. The IMCA Modifieds were the grand finale of the night, and it seemed like at that point everybody ran the low line. Nobody seemed to be going forward when they were trying the outside line. With about six or seven laps to go, that outside groove came in. This was clearly demonstrated when Shane DeVolder stuck his car up on the outside on the final restart and passed both Bobby Hogge IV and Troy Foulger. They called him on a jump-start and dropped him to fourth at the finish, and they were right. He did start early, but he showed something. There was an outside groove, but it was too late to do anything with it.

Shane remarked that he noticed Troy Morris III working on the outside, and then they got the only yellow flag of the race with two laps to go. When you're running in fourth, what do you have to lose? You can run on the bottom and follow the guys in front of you, or you can stick it up on the outside. DeVolder had that bit of information. Race winner Robby Sawyer said he looked at the top part of the track during the yellow flag and believed there was something there, but he didn't want to risk it. I don't know that anybody really realized what was there, because you'd best believe that if Hogge or Foulger thought there was a chance, they would have done it.

I think both Hogge and Foulger were surprised at how quickly DeVolder went by. Yeah, he jumped, but I think he was going to pass those two drivers if he had started just a couple of seconds later as he should have. I think he was so excited in knowing that he found something up there, he jumped the gun. He wasn't going to get around Sawyer with just two laps to work with, but I still think he would have gotten around Hogge and Foulger. Both drivers are playing the point game, and they were probably more reluctant to risk the outside at the cost of any points. If they realized what was out there, maybe they would have given it a try.

That's kind of how this series is. You only get six races to make it happen, and your points will be whatever they are. Every time you get on the track, it's very important. Let's take a look at Hogge, for instance. He lined up last in the sixth heat race. This wasn't the heat race from hell, but the heat races were going in rapid fashion. Some of them didn't have yellow flags, and he's got to work his way from last starting to one of the Top 2 spots. This means you make your move, and you make it quick. It didn't take Bobby long to get up to third, and after a little bit of a battle, he got second. If you hesitate for one moment, you're in the B Main. 

That's one thing about the one heat race format versus the two heat races, passing points and heat race points format that I've talked about. You have a better chance in that format, but you get one opportunity using the current format. If you don't get it done, you're in a B Main where only two spots are available. You can't afford to sit and wait. One thing I did like about the show for the Modifieds was the racers ran each other pretty clean for the most part. Nobody was roughing anybody up. Hogge didn't just run over Chris Sieweke to get the second spot in that heat race. He raced him and beat him.

The one guy you can look at and say he might rough somebody up a little bit is Sawyer. He ran Justin Dunn very cleanly in the early Main Event laps. I watched as Dunn started to drift up off the bottom a little bit, and I knew he wasn't going to lead that much longer. Sawyer was working the bottom, and he almost maneuvered Dunn up to the outside. Dunn could have protected the bottom groove, but he left the door open enough for Sawyer to move in. A little bit later in the game, Hogge was in second behind Sawyer, and it seemed like Hogge had some momentum going. Hogge got into Sawyer in Turn 4, but that's not the way Bobby drives. He backed off and allowed Robby to correct himself. Fortunately, Foulger backed off as well or it could have been bad for all three drivers.

There's sort of a strategy at play here, even when it looks like everybody's running the bottom groove. You might want to try to pass the guy on the bottom, but can you get him to give you just a little bit of an opening? It seems to me that's what Sawyer did, but I don't think Sawyer was willing to give up the line that was working for him. Even when he looked up top during the yellow flag period late in the race, he wasn't going to run there. He didn't have to either. He had the lead, and this was the line that got him there. There were only two laps to go, so there was no real reason to change strategy. Robby drove a great race and he earned the win for sure.

If you're Hogge or Foulger, you're not complaining about getting out of the night with a second and third place finish, respectively. You needed to do that to advance to the next night in a good position. It's starting to look like Speedweek will come down to a battle between Hogge, Sawyer and Foulger. The other contender, Nick DeCarlo, fell out of the Main Event early on. They are using the IMCA point system, so if you're back by 20 points or so right now, the chances of you getting into this battle aren't very good.

While we look at the battle developing in the IMCA Modifieds, what we're witnessing in the IMCA Sport Modifieds is very impressive indeed. Garrett Jernagan hadn't necessarily given anybody a reason to expect that he would be a contender to win the Speedweek title. That's not to disrespect him and the accomplishments he's had, but there were other names on the roster that would get the attention. However, the Bakersfield driver has won all four Main Events for the class. I think we're all paying attention to him now. His last two wins weren't just gimmies either. He actually had to do some passing from the fifth row to get to the lead. 

Cory Hemphill led quite a bit of the race as Jernagan worked his way to the front of the pack. Fred Ryland was up there pretty early, but even he couldn't find a way around the leader. When Jernagan got to third, it didn't take him long to get past Ryland. At that point, I think Fred realized that winning the series may not be so easy after all. Ryland gave it a valiant effort, but the outside groove wasn't working for him the way he was hoping it would. Merced racer Chuck Weir made a late move to drop Ryland back to forth. 

Meanwhile, Jernagan gave the fans witnessing at home on Flo Racing a little bit of drama as he didn't overtake Hemphill until five laps to go. It didn't matter when he got the lead, he got it and picked up the victory. He's got a perfect score of 160 points right now. The other contenders have slowly fallen by the wayside. Jason Bannister and KC Keller were giving us quite a bit to talk about after two races. Keller has dropped out of the battle, and Bannister is 41 points back. Ryland has fallen 12 points behind Jernagan, and he may be the only driver with a serious shot. The sleeper might be Brent Curran, who quietly picked up another Top 10 finish to stay within 21 points. I'm not putting the odds on Curran. At this point, I'm not even sure Ryland will be able to beat Jernagan, and he was my pick going into this.

It's just a fun thing watching a Speedweek Series, and to me this is the highlight of this less-than-ideal 2020 racing season. I knew it would give people a reason to tune out to all the negativity in the world for a little while and just enjoy some good racing. I can't say enough for Lockwood organizing this whole thing, the promoters who got on board to make this happen, the great sponsors who helped make it more enticing for the racers and the racers who have gotten on board to put on a show for the fans at home. If you're keeping track, we've had 58 different IMCA Sport Modifieds in four races and 72 different IMCA Modifieds. How cool is that?

I might as well talk about the announcing. I don't know who this kid is up there in the booth, but I like him. He's not necessarily somebody who is bringing you a lot of facts about the racers or any of that stuff. His delivery is enjoyable. It doesn't take away from the program. I know he's been announcing the races at Merced since last year, and he definitely sounds comfortable on the microphone. I do prefer to hear a little bit of interesting information about the racers and that sort of stuff, but what I don't like to hear is somebody butchering the names and just screwing up all night. This guy did none of that. As far as the best Speedweek announcer so far, I'd give the nod to Ben Deatherage.

They go to Hanford for a three division show on Friday night. The track is running the House of JuJu Central Valley Mini Stocks along with the two Modified classes. This will set things up for the big finale at Bakersfield on Saturday. I've seen the Modified races they had at Hanford earlier this year, and they were phenomenal. This has the makings of one hell of a show. The series has been going well so far, so let's see how it all ends. Will there be a shake-up at the top? Stay tuned.

Keller Auto Speedway

Everybody's talking about California IMCA Speedweek. The racing has been exciting so far, and there have been many cars coming to compete all week. In fact, after the Hanford race, over 80 different IMCA Modifieds took a green flag, and over 60 IMCA Sport Modifieds did the same. I hate to be a broken record here, but when Doug Lockwood announced this deal, there was just a month-and-a-half between the announcement and race time to make it all happen.

The deal had been set with the promoters for a basic purse. The races were going to happen, but who wanted to race? Who would step up and sponsor? There have been many good people who have stepped up big-time, not the least of which was Travis Hoppes. Hoppes Motorsports became the title sponsor as he put in enough money to ensure that the IMCA Modified drivers would get $100 minimum for taking the green flag in the Main Event. Flo Racing would be streaming the show, but they pitched in enough money to make sure every IMCA Sport Modified driver would receive $75 minimum to take the green flag.

Wanting to get a little bit more support behind the IMCA Sport Modifieds, Ken's Auto Body pitched in enough money to make sure that the Main Event winner on each night would get $750. Furthermore, they sponsored enough money to make sure that the champion would receive $700. The IMCA Modified champion will receive $1,000. I don't even think it's necessarily about the championship money, although the drivers want to win it. It's the bragging rights that come with winning the championship in a deal like this. Hanford certainly did its part to make this battle interesting. 

I have to say that Doug Lockwood is very organized with this deal. Once this show gets going at whatever track, they keep it moving. Lineups are ready to go and the next race gets put on the track. With all of the cars that are out there, and the fact that most of these races are taking place at State Fairgrounds tracks, Doug doesn't want to take any chances of getting anywhere near curfew. Hanford was a little bit late in getting started. Track prep went a little bit longer as it was very hot down there. They wanted to make sure the track didn't go dry and dusty, which it didn't.

The car count increased to 64 cars in the IMCA Modified ranks. I sort of figured that was going to happen. A few of the drivers from up north were probably going to disappear, but the Bakersfield influence would get stronger. They still went with the six heat race format and four B Mains after that. Each of those races would transfer two cars, bringing you 20 cars for the Main Event. The IMCA Sport Modifieds have been averaging around 32 cars per race, so the 31 cars that turned out for Hanford was not a surprise.

What was a surprise was the absence of Fred Ryland in the IMCA Sport Modifieds. Although Garrett Jernagan had been pulling away from him a few points at a time, Ryland was only 12 points out of the lead. You never know what's going to happen on race day, and Murphy's Law took effect on Friday. I'm not talking about Promoter Peter Murphy, but the old saying of Murphy's Law. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Here's the irony. We've been talking about how good Jernagan his has done in the first four races. He's done phenomenally well.

I don't think Jernagan has ever raced at Petaluma or Placerville, but he won in his first starts there. I don't recall if he's raced in Antioch, but he hasn't been there much if he has. Win #3. He's been to Merced Speedway and done well, and he got his fourth win there. As you get further south, you're thinking that Jernagan is going to get better. What you're not taking into account is the the fact that anything can happen at any moment. Jernagan got eliminated in somebody's crash during his heat race, putting him in the B Main.

It wasn't a slam dunk that he would get through the B Main as he struggled to get up into the Top 4. He eventually did make his move and get the transfer, but this meant he was starting deep in the feature race. The problem with that is that if you don't make the right moves, you can get caught up in somebody else's crash. When Aaron Ferrell spun in Turn 4 on the opening lap, Jernagan had nowhere to go. The damage he sustained in that incident ended his race, and he was scored second to last on the grid. With Fred Ryland absent, there was one driver poised to make the big move. That driver was Brent Curran. 

Curran has been lurking in the hunt, but maybe people haven't been taking him very seriously. They should have been. Over the last couple of seasons, he's picked off wins in different locations, but because you don't see him racing for points, you might not see him coming. Curran lined up on the front row next to fellow Antioch area competitor Todd Gomez, and he took the lead. Once he got the lead, he didn't relinquish it. That was an impressive feat when you consider that 2014 State champion Nick Spainhoward, who's also won championships at Bakersfield and Hanford, was the guy looking to the outside in an effort to make a move on Curran. Curran had his car dialed in, and he wasn't having any of it. He got the win, and in doing so, he also wiped out nearly all of Jernagan's point lead. We have a battle on our hands going into Bakersfield.

This is the nature of the battle, and it's even tougher when you get into the IMCA Modified division. The Sport Modifieds have been having heat races that transfer four and that's not as stressful. It's still not a slam dunk, but let's compare it to two transfers coming out of the IMCA Modified heat races that start more cars. You put enough quality drivers in the same heat race, and somebody's not getting out. Take the fourth heat, for example. Troy Foulger won it, and Bobby Hogge IV ended up second. Merced feature winner Robby Sawyer ended up third, meaning he had to work his way out of a B Main. He managed to do it, but this put him deep in the field in the Main Event. The further back you start, the harder it's going to be to make anything happen.

While Sawyer had the honor of starting in the trunk, Bakersfield racer Kyle Heckman decided to make his first Speedweek appearance in Hanford. Heckman jumped into the lead, and he had Hogge and Foulger taking up pursuit. This race had no yellow flags. When you're coming from the back of the pack, you usually rely on a couple of yellow flags at just the right time to enable you to make big gains. In absence of that, you're struggling to get anywhere. Sawyer made several passes, but the best he could do was 11th.

This meant that Sawyer lost nine more points to Hogge. He came into the race six points back, but he ended the night trailing by 15. It's difficult at times to make up many points in one event given the IMCA point system. The wild card is the fact that it's difficult to even make it into the show given the competition that is showing up. Hogge has been in these point races long enough to know that it isn't over until the checkered flag waves Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway. He's not taking anything for granted at this point.

Give Heckman credit for driving a great race. He didn't make any mistakes up front, and though he didn't get too far in front, all you need to do is beat the next guy to the checkered flag. He did his job and left the track with the $1,000 prize money. Hogge has yet to finish worse than third in any race in the series. He finished second in Hanford as Foulger wasn't able to get by, though he certainly made a great effort in trying. It's likely to come down to one of these three drivers at Bakersfield, and though Hogge seems like the best bet, it isn't over yet. 

It was really a smoothly run event that didn't waste a lot of time. Even the support Central Valley Mini Stock group ran in rapid fashion. This group puts on a good show as what is probably the premiere Mini Stock organization anywhere on the dirt on the West Coast. Series Director Dan Myrick again lined up sponsorship from House of JuJu of Clovis and Morro Bay. This is the second year that the restaurant has sponsored them, and the point fund is $5,000. The Top 10 drivers get paid, and the champion receives $1,000. During this time of the covid-19 pandemic, Myrick has even offered up recent races to promoters for free to work with them. That's nice when you consider his group has definitely earned the decent purses they were getting prior to the shutdown.

I know this column is about IMCA, but I'm not one of those writers that likes to completely ignore the third division. The CVMS group had a good show, and it was Clint Massey leading from start to finish to become the fifth different winner in six races. Myrick is the only repeat winner this year, but the reigning champion has failed to finish the past few races. He had just made a move on second place Ryan Doglione when mechanical issues struck. 

With another solid finish in the Top 5, Jeff Durant maintains his point lead as he seeks to become the fourth different CVMS champion in four years. They brought 15 cars, and all of the drivers did a good job. There's some young drivers out there learning and a few drivers that have a little bit more experience. Some people may shake their head or ignore a group like this because they're not the fast cars on the track. But there are a couple of things to consider. They're very competitive and race hard on the track. Furthermore, you might see some of these drivers running in IMCA Modifieds or Sport Modifieds in the years ahead. Remember, Brent Curran won the 2014 Mini Stock championship at Antioch before moving up.

I don't want to wrap up this entry without mentioning the announcing. I've been doing that. In this time of the pandemic when we're sitting at home watching these broadcasts at home, good announcing makes a big difference. I wish I could say that's what I heard at this event, but I was probably the least impressed with the announcing here compared to the other four Speedweek shows. They also had sound issues that didn't help things, but it's almost like the person up there announcing was simply reading from a sheet that had names and didn't bother to go out there and talk to anybody. It's okay to talk to people if you have a mask on your face in this covid-19 world we live in.

I mentioned announcers who read from sheets of paper, but that was standard protocol not that long ago. Announcers these days actually do make an effort to talk to the racers, but back in the day, they might get the roster that the track gave them and just start saying whatever. A lot of announcers would try to compensate by being funny. Some would succeed at that, and others would fail. Some announcers who read from sheets of paper actually remembered what they witnessed and could wing it well enough. Others were dreadful. I prefer announcers that do their homework and inform you a little bit more.

Again, people are sitting at home watching this online. That means they aren't in the stands and able to look right or left to see everything. So, wherever the camera is pointing and whatever the announcer is saying is their window to what's going on out on the track. A good announcer makes a big difference when it comes to these races that are broadcast live. This is why I can't stress enough that Speedweek should have an announcer who travels to every race and really cares about what's going on. That announcer would be able to highlight the drama as it unfolds each night. It was still a night of good racing and the crew in Hanford did a good job overall.

It's another race in the record books. Drivers repair the damage. Some drivers are going to debate whether they want to go to Bakersfield or not after the way things have gone so far. Others are just going to run because it's fun. Some are going to run because they've got a shot at something. All the while, there's going to be drivers who haven't competed in the series yet waiting down in Bakersfield. That track is a racy joint, and the IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds always battle fiercely when they get on the track down at the place they called Okie Bowl. The California IMCA Speedweek Series, presented by Hoppes Motorsports, will certainly have an entertaining finale.

Bakersfield Speedway

There was one race left to go as the IMCA Modified and IMCA Sport Modified racers pulled into the pits at Bakersfield Speedway. This California IMCA Speedweek, presented by Hoppes Motorsports, has been a success. The IMCA Modified car count averaged in the 50s for all six races, and Bakersfield Speedway had 53. The IMCA Sport Modifieds averaged in the low 30s, and there were 31 cars at Bakersfield. Anyway you add it up, this was a success. This is only the beginning.

This is not the best of times to go racing, but we go racing in order to keep a little bit of normalcy in our lives. Promoters have a hard time opening the gates considering they can't have fans in attendance. It's not necessarily the best time for business, but it is a time to remind everybody that our country will be back stronger than ever. We'll make it through the other end of this deal. Speedweek represented a week where we could tune out to all of the talk about the virus and the other craziness going on in the world and just get down to the business of good racing.

Fans who couldn't be there in person could still tune in on Flo Racing to watch every bit of the action. Even if you just did a month subscription so that you could watch this, you got a good deal out of it. Much like Merced Speedway, Bakersfield Speedway has a history of over 70 years of racing at this historic facility. It was the logical choice to end an exciting week of racing. You have to give the credit to the racers who have hung in there and made it through the whole week.

I really wish I could sit down here and write about all of the great racers who came out in support of Speedweek, but we'd be writing a book at that point. Some might suggest I'm writing a book now, and I guess I couldn't argue. I do tend to write a lot. When you look at the IMCA Modifieds, racers like Tim Yeager, Justin Yeager, Jake Dewsbury, Anthony Slaney, Buddy Kniss, Vinny Raucci Jr, Dakota Schweitzer, Chris Sieweke, Terry Hershberger, John Pierce, Mark Gaylord, Jake Mayden and Freddie Plourde III didn't get a lot of glory. Much of their time has been spent running B Mains, but they supported most, if not all, of this series. 

I'm glad we have the Main Event and B Main finishes on this blog post, because I think it's important that we at least show the names of these people. Many of them signed up ahead of time as a show of support for the series. Without that, it would have been a lot more difficult to do anything. Drivers came from Southern California to race. They came from Yreka California and everywhere in between. They came from Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and even Oregon. They did it during a pandemic. Imagine the support this series will generate when things get back to normal.

As I was looking at the point standings, a thought occurs to me. There were several drivers in the IMCA Modifieds who were at most, if not all, of those races and didn't qualify for one Main Event. I'm the person who pushed for Semi Main points, and that became a championship race at Antioch Speedway in the 1990s. For a few years, I was the one who awarded the champions, either with a plaque or a subscription to my magazine. I'm the advocate that speaks about how important it is that we acknowledge everybody at the track.

I'd like to see something created for the non-qualifiers. I don't know how that would work, but I posted the Top 10 non qualifiers for the Modifieds. These are all drivers that didn't make it into a Main Event the whole week. I think what got my mind working was I specifically noticed John Pierce. He's a driver who raced in the 1990s at both Altamont and Antioch and periodically will pull his car out of mothballs to go racing again. He was dedicated this week. I don't even think the guy was necessarily looking for anything. He just wanted to be at the track and have fun. What I'm saying is I'd like to see a non-qualifiers award based on the highest point people who didn't make a Main Event. Whether that's cash, a plaque or whatever, I'd like to see that happen. I'm not sure how to accomplish that at the moment, but we've got time to figure it out.

Speedweek is a celebration of racing. There are many big special races scheduled throughout the season at various race tracks. You don't see very many week-long series in existence. In fact, the last time the big oval tracks had a Speedweek Series in California, it was the 1990s and it was 410 Sprint Car racing. Establishing this series is very important, because IMCA Modified racing and IMCA Sport Modified racing in the state of California is strong. IMCA Stock Car racing may be the next thing to get big in the years to come.

The IMCA Modifieds had three drivers with a legitimate shot at the championship going into the finale, though it was going to be a tall order for Robby Sawyer or Troy Foulger to make a move on Bobby Hogge IV unless he stumbled. As it turned out, Hogge managed to make it through his heat race, but Foulger and Sawyer did not. It's challenging when you've got nine drivers in a heat race that goes 10 laps with only two people transferring. Even the best drivers in the field will stumble. Foulger managed to turn it around and make it out of the B Main. Sawyer had some mechanical issues end his night in his B Main.

Foulger was the only driver with a mathematical shot at Hogge, but unless Hogge didn't finish, it wasn't likely to happen. Both drivers were mired at the back of the pack. When you start back there, you're subject to the possibility of being caught up in somebody's wreck. Ask Garrett Jernagan of the Sport Modified division about that. We'll get to Garrett in a moment. At one point, Gary Dutton was running up in the Top 3, and the next thing you know, he.spun in Turn 2. Foulger got collected in the incident, and Ethan Dotson had all four wheels in the air at one point. This was the end of the race for Foulger. 

At that point, everybody knew that one of the best drivers on the West Coast in the last two decades, Bobby Hogge IV, would be the Speedweek champion. The question was, could he win another Main Event? Bobby won at Placerville, but he had three seconds and a third going into Bakersfield. There had been five different drivers to claim Main Event glory. There were no repeat winners. Foulger, Sawyer, Kyle Heckman and Nick DeCarlo were the other winners. Shane DeVolder was poised to add his name to the list. DeVolder battled the surprising Alyssa Smith early on in the race before wrestling the lead away from her. Hogge was the driver he would see in the waning laps, but DeVolder was cool under pressure. He's not the 2018 State champion for nothing. He made it six different winners during the week.

It was an incredible week of IMCA Modified racing, and we witnessed the emergence of a star in the IMCA Sport Modifieds. People who've been watching Garrett Jernagan for the last few years would say he's already a star. However, he had people watching from all over the world on Flo Racing's streaming service as he began the Sport Modified Speedweek with four-straight wins. Even Fred Ryland, who is in the conversation regarding who the best driver is in the Sport Modifieds in California, was having a difficult time keeping up with him. After Merced, when Ryland was trailing by 12 points, he elected to abandon his quest for the championship.

It turns out that this move may have cost him the championship. Jernagan finished 19th at Hanford. Had Ryland shown up and even got a podium finish, he would have moved into the lead, and he probably would have carried a five or six point advantage over Jernagan into Bakersfield. At one point per position, that gives you a little leeway. Even if Jernagan comes back and wins Bakersfield, as he did on this occasion, Ryland still might have won the Speedweek title. As it was, another driver from Fred's neck of the woods, Brent Curran, took up the challenge.

If people were ignoring Curran or not taking him seriously, he served notice to them with the way he ended his Speedweek run. With Ryland gone, Curran went out to Hanford and knocked it out of the park with an impressive feature win over Nick Spainhoward. Spainhoward hasn't really raced too heavily in the last few years, but he was putting up some very impressive numbers before that. After winning in Hanford. Curran went to Bakersfield and again had a front row start. He was able to lead several laps. Though Jernagan got him and grabbed his fifth win of the week, Curran still ended strong in second.

There's no doubt about it. Jernagan had one of those weeks for the ages. Hanford might have been a blemish, but his other five races were perfection. There's no doubt he's the champion. As for Curran, he stayed in it all the way to the end. He has nothing to be ashamed of. We can say the same thing about him that we're saying about Jernagan. If people didn't know who Brent Curran was going into the week, they do now.

It was a very important decision to put the Sport Modifieds on the Speedweek bill alongside the Modifieds. This needed to happen. Though the IMCA Modifieds clearly demonstrate their prowess on the dirt tracks throughout the state, the Sport Modifieds are putting up big numbers and attracting some great competitors. These two divisions having a week-long racing series is the potent, one-two punch that the fans needed. When we're able to open up the grandstands next year for Speedweek, you can best believe that people will not only be showing up at their local track, many of them will actually follow the entire series.

The Bakersfield Speedway crew worked very hard on that race track. When you're dealing with the kind of heat they have, it can be tough to keep the track from going away. In the later stages of the evening, they got out there and worked the dirt a little bit and watered it, and it did help. It did get a little bit bumpy in the IMCA Modified Main Event, but the drivers made the best of it and put on a good show. The track has a well-deserved reputation. It's not easy to get a win at Bakersfield Speedway. If you manage to accomplish the deed, you did well. Shane DeVolder doesn't go to Bakersfield very often, but now he can say he's won there. For Jernagan, it was his second win at his home track this year.

I would say the coverage on Flo Racing was lacking just a little bit. There were technical errors. It's not that anything cut out on us. We were still able to watch. They use the MyLaps system, so I am at a loss as to why they didn't have the scrolling scores at the top of the screen. At times, it was difficult to know who was where when the announcer wasn't conveying that information either. A few years ago, they had an announcing duo out there that kind of gave you that Radio DJ vibe. Sometimes that's pleasant enough to listen to I suppose.

The guy up in the booth, and forgive me for not knowing his name either, was probably in the bottom half of this week's Speedweek announcers. He didn't add to the show, and at times he didn't come through when you needed him to. I restate my case. Bring in an announcer for this series. It's only going to help you sell more pay-per-views. Obviously, everybody is aiming for open grandstands next year, but having streaming services for those who can't make it is a must. This is what happens in Oregon for that Speedweek Series. Go ahead and have your regular people up in the booth if you must, but the special Flo Racing announcer can be piped in with the cameras and give the fans watching at home a better quality of commentary. 

There are two names that jump out at me immediately. I spoke about Ben Deatherage. He did the show at Antioch, and he handles his duties well. Ben is well versed in different racing divisions. You can bring him into a Sprint Car show just the same as a Modified show, and he'll do the job well. If you want to go with a Sprint Car guy, I could make a case for Gary Thomas. If you want to go with a guy who travels up and down the road for these streaming shows, bring in Chet. Everybody knows him. I say this about Flo Racing. They merged with Speedshift and got the assets, and that's great. What's the good of having an announcer as talented as Chet if you don't make use of him? He'd come up for Oregon's Speedweek, so why not this one? 

At the end of the day, this is only a minor nitpick on what was a fantastic week of racing. That's what it's all about, racing. The promoters, the sponsors, the racers and everybody came together on this. It took the leadership of Doug Lockwood to bring it all home. Doug ran this thing fabulously. He made sure that there was no drag on the program associated with organization. The races were lined up and ready to go, and that made the fact that more track prep work was being done at Bakersfield a non-issue. The races still got done quickly enough. So in conclusion, California IMCA Speedweek, presented by Hoppes Motorsports, was a big success. I truly believe it will only get better next year.